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auxiliary
7 dictionary results for: Auxiliary
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
aux·il·ia·ry       [awg-zil-yuh-ree, -zil-uh-] Pronunciation Key adjective, noun, plural -ries.
–adjective
1.additional; supplementary; reserve: an auxiliary police force.
2.used as a substitute or reserve in case of need: The hospital has an auxiliary power system in case of a blackout.
3.(of a boat) having an engine that can be used to supplement the sails: an auxiliary yawl.
4.giving support; serving as an aid; helpful: The mind and emotions are auxiliary to each other. Passion is auxiliary to art.
–noun
5.a person or thing that gives aid of any kind; helper.
6.an organization allied with, but subsidiary to, a main body of restricted membership, esp. one composed of members' relatives: The men's club and the ladies' auxiliary were merged into one organization.
7.auxiliary verb.
8.auxiliaries, foreign troops in the service of a nation at war.
9.Navy. a naval vessel designed for other than combat purposes, as a tug, supply ship, or transport.
10.Nautical. a sailing vessel carrying an auxiliary propulsion engine or engines.
[Origin: 1595–1605; < L auxiliārius assisting, aiding, helping, equiv. to auxili(um) aid, help (aux(us) increased, augmented (ptp. of augére: aug- increase + -sus, var. of -tus ptp. suffix) + -ilium n. suffix) + -ārius -ary]

—Synonyms 2. backup, ancillary, secondary. 5. aide, ally, assistant; help.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
aux·il·ia·ry       (ôg-zĭl'yə-rē, -zĭl'ə-rē)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Giving assistance or support; helping.
  2. Acting as a subsidiary; supplementary: the main library and its auxiliary branches.
  3. Held in or used as a reserve: auxiliary troops; an auxiliary power generator.
  4. Nautical Equipped with a motor as well as sails.
  5. Grammar Of, relating to, or being an auxiliary verb.

n.   pl. aux·il·ia·ries
  1. An individual or group that assists or functions in a supporting capacity: a volunteers' auxiliary at a hospital.
  2. A member of a foreign body of troops serving a country in war.
  3. Grammar An auxiliary verb.
  4. Nautical
    1. A sailing vessel equipped with a motor.
    2. A vessel, such as a supply ship or a tug, that is designed for and used in instances and services other than combat.


[Middle English, from Latin auxiliārius, from auxilium, help; see aug- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
auxiliary  (adj.)
1603, from L. auxiliaris "helpful," from auxilium "aid, help," related to auctus, pp. of augere "to increase" (see augment). Military noun meaning "foreign troops in service of a nation at war" is from 1601.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
auxiliary

adjective
1. functioning in a supporting capacity; "the main library and its auxiliary branches" 
2. furnishing added support; "an ancillary pump"; "an adjuvant discipline to forms of mysticism"; "The mind and emotions are auxiliary to each other" [syn: accessory] 

noun
1. someone who acts as assistant [syn: aide] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

auxiliary aux·il·ia·ry (ôg-zĭl'yə-rē, -zĭl'ə-rē)
adj.

  1. Functioning in an augmenting capacity; supplementary.
  2. Functioning as a subordinate; secondary.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Auxiliary

Aux*il"ia*ry\ (?; 106), a. [L. auxiliarius, fr. auxilium help, aid, fr. augere to increase.] Conferring aid or help; helping; aiding; assisting; subsidiary; as auxiliary troops.

Auxiliary scales (Mus.), the scales of relative or attendant keys. See under Attendant, a.

Auxiliary verbs (Gram.). See Auxiliary, n., 3.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Auxiliary

Aux*il"ia*ry\, n.; pl. Auxiliaries. 1. A helper; an assistant; a confederate in some action or enterprise.

2. (Mil.) pl. Foreign troops in the service of a nation at war; (rarely in sing.), a member of the allied or subsidiary force.

3. (Gram.) A verb which helps to form the voices, modes, and tenses of other verbs; -- called, also, an auxiliary verb; as, have, be, may, can, do, must, shall, and will, in English; [^e]tre and avoir, in French; avere and essere, in Italian; estar and haber, in Spanish.

4. (Math.) A quantity introduced for the purpose of simplifying or facilitating some operation, as in equations or trigonometrical formul[ae]. --Math. Dict.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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