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secretarial

secretarial

9 3.6
Relating to office tasks like filing and arranging appointments
  • adjective
  • /ˌsɛkrəˈtɛriəl/
translation icon : secretarial
  • His responsibilities included various secretarial duties like managing schedules and preparing reports.
  • secretarial assistance
  • secretarial work
  • secretarial staff

And so after Asia, then I did a queen secretarial course because my mother was like, right, you know, you need to get some qualifications so you can start working.

Examples

  • The job is less burdensome if the university provides secretarial assistance and release time.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Doris has had a varied career working in secretarial, banking, accounting, and legal positions.

    Academic text (1998)
  • I thought it was a secretarial post.

  • This is your ticket out of the secretarial pool.

  • And then I could go to a secretarial college.

  • I put her through this secretarial course.

  • I called you earlier about a secretarial job.

  • You do secretarial work, do you?

  • Lisa, like the majority of the other women there, came to upgrade her secretarial skills.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • They sent me to secretarial school and then I applied for a job at Consolidated.

Synonyms

clerical
vssecretarial
25 3.7

Relating to office work such as typing, filing or answering phones

is specific to duties done by one office role rather than general administrative tasks

Compounds

2 2.7

A school that teaches typing, filing, and other office skills

A person who does office tasks like filing and answering phones for managers

How Clerical

secretarial
9 3.6
clerical
25 3.7
administrative
180 4.6

Surface Forms

secretarial positive

Morphology

secretarial = secretary (transparent) = secretary + ial

The suffix '-ial' is used to form adjectives meaning 'relating to', making the connection to 'secretary' clear.

Etymology

Secretarial comes from secretary, which comes from the old word secretus meaning 'hidden' or 'separate', and is the same root as the common word secret. A helpful way to remember this is that a secretary was once a person trusted with private papers and messages, so secretarial work is about handling and organising important or private office tasks.