Sĕc'ond-a-ry1, a.
a. [Fr. secondaire, Pr. secundari, Sp. & Pg. secundario, segundario, It. secondario, Lat. secundarius. See SECOND.]
Sense 1. Succeeding next in order to the first; of second place, origin, rank, and the like; not primary; subordinate; not of the first order or rate.
Where there is moral right on the one hand, no secondary right can discharge it. L'Estrange.
Two are the radical differences; the secondary differences are as four. Bacon.
Sense 2. Acting by deputation or delegated authority; as, the work of secondary hands.
Secondary circle (Geom. & Astron.), a great circle passing through the poles of another great circle perpendicular to its plane. — Secondary crystal (Min.), a crystal derived from one of the primary forms. — Secondary current (Elec.), a momentary current induced in a closed circuit by a current of electricity passing through the same or a contiguous circuit at the beginning and also at the end of the passage of the primitive current. — Secondary evidence, that which is admitted upon failure to obtain the primary or best evidence. — Secondary fever (Med.), that which arises after a crisis, or a critical effort, as after the declension of the small-pox or measles. Quincy. — Secondary plane (Crystallog.), any plane on a crystal which is not one of the primary planes. — Secondary planet (Astron.), a planet revolving about a primary planet; a planet. — Secondary qualities, those qualities of bodies which are not inseparable from them as such, but are dependent for their development and intensity on the organism of the percipient, such as color, taste, odor, &c. — Secondary quill, a quill growing on the second bone of a bird's wing. — Secondary rocks or strata (Geol.), those rocks or strata which are situated over or above the azoic, and below the tertiary. The term is not much used.
Synonyms— Second; second-rate; subordinate; inferior,