auxiliary

¹aux·il·ia·ry

adjective \ȯg-ˈzil-yə-rē, -ˈzil-rē, -ˈzi-lə-\

Definition of AUXILIARY

1

a : offering or providing help

b : functioning in a subsidiary capacity <an auxiliary branch of the state university>

2

of a verb : accompanying another verb and typically expressing person, number, mood, or tense

3

a : supplementary

b : constituting a reserve <an auxiliary power plant>

4

: equipped with sails and a supplementary inboard engine <an auxiliary sloop>

Examples of AUXILIARY

1. a sailboat with an auxiliary engine
2. <the auditorium has an auxiliary cooling system used only on particularly sweltering days>
3. Travelers have also been griping about a lack of air-conditioning while planes are on the tarmac—even after delays stretch for hours. Airlines blame the problem on a breakdown of a plane's auxiliary power unit. —Darren Everson, Wall Street Journal, 8 Aug. 2007
4. However, on March 1, 1896, Italian forces underwent a stunning defeat at Adwa, where they fought against the warriors of the Abyssinian emperor, Menelik. Some five thousand Italian troops and two thousand native auxiliary troops had been killed or captured, and the colony had been lost. —Mirella Tenderini et al., The Duke of the Abruzzi, 1997
5. The rotund 6'1", 235-pound object of their affections hasn't played a day of major league baseball, he dresses in the auxiliary locker room, and he isn't even listed on Boston's 40-man roster. But after a resplendent summer last year at Triple A Pawtucket and a winter of panegyrics from a giddy Boston press, first baseman Maurice Samuel (Mo) Vaughn, 23, has arrived as a “real” rookie who everyone in Red Sox-land hopes is the real thing. —Nicholas Dawidoff, Sports Illustrated, 1 Apr. 1991

Origin of AUXILIARY

Latin auxiliaris, from auxilium help; akin to Latin augēre to increase — more at eke

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to AUXILIARY

Synonyms

accessorial, accessory, appurtenant, peripheral, supplemental, supplementary

Antonyms

chief, main, principal

Related Words

backup, makeshift, substitute; added, additional, another, further; complementary, contributory; adjuvant, assistant, assisting, helping, supportive, tributary; secondary, subordinate, subservient, subsidiary; dispensable, excess, nonessential, superfluous, surplus, unessential

Near Antonyms

basic, fundamental, primary, prime; all-important, essential, imperative, indispensable, integral, necessary, needed, needful, required, requisite, vital

²aux·il·ia·ry

noun \ȯg-ˈzil-yə-rē, -ˈzil-rē, -ˈzi-lə-\

plural aux·il·ia·ries

Definition of AUXILIARY

1

a : an auxiliary person, group, or device (see ¹auxiliary); specifically : a member of a foreign force serving a nation at war

b : a Roman Catholic titular bishop assisting a diocesan bishop and not having the right of succession —called also auxiliary bishop

2

: a sailing boat or ship equipped with a supplementary inboard engine

3

: an auxiliary verb

Examples of AUXILIARY

1. In 1944 Forrestal also began a program of sending black enlisted men to serve in a limited number of fleet auxiliaries. These were still not warships, but they were seagoing vessels and closer to the fighting Navy than the small harbor-defense craft and harbor auxiliaries that had initially been open to black crews. —The Golden Thirteen, 1993
2. Roman cavalry was poorly developed; they relied on wings, called alae, of horsemen supplied by their auxiliaries. The favorite Roman battle formation was of a triple line of cohorts with alae sweeping the flanks. —Kenneth P. Czech, MHQ : The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Autumn 1992

Origin of AUXILIARY

(see ¹auxiliary)

First Known Use: 1567

auxiliary

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

In grammar, a verb that is subordinate to the main lexical verb in a clause. Auxiliaries can convey distinctions of tense, aspect, mood, person, and number. In Germanic languages such as English and Romance languages such as French, an auxiliary verb occurs with the main verb in the form of an infinitive or participle.