the.com/secretary
Once the most powerful insider in the room, now everyone insists they don't have one.
means A person employed to handle correspondence, records, and administrative tasks for another, or an official who heads a government department or organization.
from From Latin 'secretarius,' meaning one entrusted with secrets — built on 'secretum' (a secret thing), itself from 'secernere,' 'to set apart' (se- 'apart' + cernere 'to sift, separate'). The original secretary wasn't a typist but a confidant: the one person permitted to know what was kept hidden. The word arrived in English in the late Middle Ages still wearing that aura of privileged knowledge, which is why nations still call their top ministers Secretaries of State.
- latin root
- From secretarius, keeper of secrets
- used to be male
- A prestigious male clerical role until the 1900s
- top jobs
- Secretary of State runs U.S. foreign policy
- furniture too
- A writing desk is also called a secretary
- bird namesake
- The secretarybird stomps snakes to death
condoleezza rice — u.s. secretary of state 2005-2009 under george w. bush
henry kissinger — u.s. secretary of state 1973-1977 under nixon and ford
antony blinken — u.s. secretary of state 2021-present under joe biden