# sec
## Translingual
### Symbol

sec
* (trigonometry) Symbol of the trigonometric function secant.
    Coordinate terms: csc, cot, arcsec
* (nonstandard) Symbol of second, an SI unit of measurement of time.

#### Usage notes

The standard symbol for "second" is s.

## English
### Alternative forms

* sec.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛk/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛk

### Noun

sec (plural sec or secs)
* (colloquial) Second, $^1$⁄$_{60}$ of a minute. [from 1881]
* (colloquial) Clipping of second (“short indeterminate period of time”).
    Synonyms: jiffy, mo, tic; see also Thesaurus:moment
    Wait a sec!
** 1881 August 27, “In Church”, in Supplement to the Manchester Weekly Times, Manchester, England, page 8:And the sloping of the shoulder / From the slender shapely neck / Makes you long to come behind her and to hold her / Just a sec.
* (colloquial, politics) Clipping of secretary.
    shadow sec

#### Derived terms

* com sec
* just a sec

### See also

* C-sec
* demi-sec
* triple sec

### Anagrams

* CES, CEs, CSE, ECS, ESC, Esc, SCE, ces, sce.

## Aromanian
### Etymology 1

From Latin siccus. Compare Romanian sec.

#### Alternative forms

* secu

#### Adjective

sec
* dry
* barren, deserted

### Etymology 2

From Latin siccō. Compare Romanian seca, sec.

#### Alternative forms

* secu

#### Verb

sec first-singular present indicative (third-person singular present indicative seacã, past participle sicatã)
* to dry, dry up
* to exhaust, wither, drain, empty

##### Related terms

* sicari / sicare
* sicat
* sicãturã
* seatsitã

## Catalan
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan sech, from Latin siccus (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyk-.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ˈsɛk]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈsək]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈsek]
* Audio (Catalonia):(file)

#### Adjective

sec (feminine seca, masculine plural secs, feminine plural seques)
* dry (free from or lacking moisture)
    Synonym: eixut
* (of wine) dry (low in sugar)
* skinny

##### Related terms

* a peu sec
* a seques
* assecar
* cor sec
* de seques i de verdes
* dida seca
* en sec
* paret seca
* pedra seca
* pedregada seca
* seca
* secà
* secada
* secall
* secalló
* secallós
* secament
* secaner
* secor
* sequedat
* sequer
* sequera
* sequeral

### Etymology 2

Deverbal from segar (“to harvest”).

#### Alternative forms

* séc (pre-2016 spelling)

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈsek]
* Homophone: cec

#### Noun

sec m (plural secs)
* fold
* groove
* wrinkle

### Etymology 3
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈsɛk]

#### Verb

sec
* first-person singular present indicative of seure

### Further reading

* “sec” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “sec”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “sec” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “sec” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Dutch
### Etymology

From French sec.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛk/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

sec (used only predicatively, not comparable)
* (of wine) dry
* (figuratively) simple, plain, matter-of-fact, without adornment

#### Usage notes

* The figurative sense is often used adverbially:
    Hij presenteerde de zaak sec en zonder emotie. ― He presented the case matter-of-factly and without emotion.

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French sec, from Latin siccus (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyk-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛk/
* Audio (Paris):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛk

### Adjective

sec (feminine sèche, masculine plural secs, feminine plural sèches)
* dry
* dried, having had its moisture evaporated
    des abricots secs ― dried apricots
    du poisson sec ― dried fish
* lean, thin, skinny
** 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Volume I, Chapter I:[I]l était de complexion robuste, maigre de corps, sec de visage, fort matineux et grand ami de la chasse.[H]e was of a robust complexion, thin in the body, lean in the face, a very early riser and a friend of the hunt.
* (of alcohol) dry, unsweetened, not sweet, bitter
* (of a person) curt
    Désolé si j’ai été un peu sec.Sorry if I was a bit curt.

#### Descendants

* → Dutch: sec
* → Turkish: sek

### Noun

sec m (plural secs)
* something that is dry
** 1883, Louis Segond, transl., La Bible, Genesis 1:9:Que les eaux qui sont au-dessous du ciel se rassemblent en un seul lieu, et que le sec paraisse.Let the waters below the heavens gather in one place, and let the dry stuff (i.e. the land) come forth.

### Adverb

sec
* sharply, abruptly, quickly, swiftly, briskly
    Les bouches buvaient sec et parlaient beaucoup.The mouths were eating quickly and talking a lot

#### Derived terms

* à sec
* aussi sec
* avoir le cœur sec
* cul sec
* fruit sec
* glace sèche
* nettoyage à sec
* panne sèche
* perte sèche
* raisin sec
* saucisson sec
* toux sèche

#### Related terms

* sèche-cheveux
* sèchement
* sécher
* sécheresse
* séchoir
* siccité

### Further reading

* “sec”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* ces

## Lower Sorbian
### Alternative forms

* ssez (obsolete)

### Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sěťi (“to cut, chop”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛt͡s/

### Verb

sec impf (perfective pósec)
* to mow (cut something down)

#### Conjugation

| Present | Singular | Dual | Plural |
| 1st person | seku secom | secomej | secomy |
| 2nd person | secoš | secotej | secośo |
| 3rd person | seco | secotej | seku |
| Preterite | Singular | Dual | Plural |
| 1st person | secech | secechmej | secechmy |
| 2nd person | secešo | seceštej | secešćo |
| 3rd person | secešo | seceštej | secechu |
| Imperative | Singular | Dual | Plural |
| 2nd person | sec | sectej | secćo |

##### Participles

* Present: sececy
* Past active (“ł-form”): sekł
* Past passive: secony

##### Infinitive

    sec

##### Supine

    sect

##### Verbal noun

    secenje

#### Derived terms

* pódsec
* pśesec
* rozsec
* secenje
* seceński
* seck
* secnica
* secomłośenica
* secosekawa
* secowězak
* wótsec
* wusec
* zasec

### Further reading

* Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “sec”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
* Starosta, Manfred (1999) “sec”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

## Occitan
### Etymology

From Old Occitan sec, from Latin siccus (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyk-.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (Béarn):(file)

### Adjective

sec m (feminine singular seca, masculine plural secs, feminine plural secas)
* dry

#### Related terms

* secar

### Further reading

* Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎, 2 edition, →ISBN, page 898.
* Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 591.

## Old English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /seːk/

### Adjective

sēc (Anglian)
* Alternative form of sēoc

#### Declension
## Old French
### Etymology

From Latin siccus.

### Adjective

sec m (oblique and nominative feminine singular seche)
* dry (lacking moisture)

#### Descendants

* French: sec
* Norman: sé
* Walloon: setch

### References

* Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX$^e$ au XV$^e$ siècle (1881) (sec, supplement)
* sec on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

## Romanian
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin siccus, from Proto-Indo-European *seyk-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sek/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

sec m or n (feminine singular seacă, plural seci)
* dry
* barren, empty, deserted; also dried up
* (figuratively) missing or deficient in something, lacking; also useless
* (figuratively) dull, stupid, empty-headed
* (regional, Transylvania) skinny

#### Synonyms

* (dry): uscat
* (empty): gol, deșert
* (stupid): prost
* (skinny): slab

#### Related terms

* seca
* secetă

## Romansch
### Alternative forms

* sitg, setg (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran)
* schetg (Sursilvan)
* sétg (Sutsilvan)
* sech (Puter, Vallader)

### Etymology

From Latin siccus.

### Adjective

sec m (feminine singular secca, masculine plural secs, feminine plural seccas)
* (Sursilvan) dry

## Swedish
### Adjective

sec
* dry (especially of white wine)

### References

* sec in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* sec in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)