Navy Secretary
1
6.3
- noun
- /ˈneɪvi ˈsɛkrəˌtɛri/
- Formal
:
Secretario de la Marina
- The Navy Secretary gave a press conference to discuss the latest developments in naval strategy.
- former Navy Secretary
- Navy Secretary John Lehman
- Navy Secretary James Webb
Examples
-
On September 14, 2004, Navy Secretary Gordon England issued a directive establishing "administrative review procedures for enemy combatants detained" at Guantanamo Bay.
Academic text (2005) -
A recent New York Times article quoted Navy Secretary Ray Mabus as saying that the U.S. Navy uses 1% of the energy that the entire country uses, a staggering amount considering the size of the Navy is one-tenth of a percent of the size of the entire country.
Blog text (16) -
The burden of proof is not stated explicitly, in part because the Navy Secretary has described the proceedings as "non-adversarial" (n270); however, the implementing document could be read as presuming either the need for continued detention or the need for release.
Academic text (2005) -
During his tenure as Navy Secretary, John Chafee implemented significant reforms in naval operations.
-
As the Navy Secretary, he was responsible for overseeing the administration of the Navy's budget and policies.
Synonyms
14
6.0
Leader of the United States Navy department before 1947 in charge of its operations
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is compositionally derived from 'navy' (the maritime military service) + 'secretary' (a senior official heading an administrative ministry), so a learner who knows both words can infer this refers to the government official in charge of the navy. This is a common title pattern cross-linguistically and context/capitalization will signal the institutional role, making it readily understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Navy Secretary is a title that comes from the clear image of a secretary (an official who runs a department) for the navy (the country's ships and sailors). So, it was used for the person who was 'the head of the Navy department', a role that existed until the Navy became part of the new Department of Defense in 1947.