sec

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sec"

Translingual

Etymology 1

Clipping of English secant.

Symbol

sec

1. (trigonometry) Symbol of the trigonometric function secant.

   Coordinate terms: csc, cot, arcsec

Etymology 2

Clipping of English second.

Symbol

sec

2. (nonstandard) second, the SI base unit for measurement of time.

   Synonym: s (official SI symbol)

Etymology 3

Clipping of English Sechelt.

Symbol

sec

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Sechelt.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Sechelt terms

English

Alternative forms

• sec.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛk

Noun

sec (plural sec or secs)

2. (informal) Second, ¹⁄₆₀ of a minute. [from 1881]
   • 2025 August, “The International System of Units (SI)”, in Bureau International des Poids et Mesures‎^[1], archived from the original on 17 September 2025, page 147:

     It is not permissible to use abbreviations for unit symbols or unit names, such as sec (for either s or second), sq. mm (for either mm² or square millimetre), cc (for either cm³ or cubic centimetre), or mps (for either m/s or metre per second).

3. (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.

4. (colloquial, especially politics) Clipping of secretary.

   shadow sec

Derived terms

• com sec
• just a sec
• ksec
• one sec
• seckill

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

1. dry
2. barren, deserted

Etymology 2

From Latin siccō. Compare Romanian seca, sec.

Alternative forms

• secu

Verb

sec (third-person singular seacã, participle sicatã)

1. to dry, dry up
2. 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^(key): (Northern) [ˈse̞k]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈsək]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈsɛk]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈsek]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Adjective

sec (feminine seca, masculine plural secs, feminine plural seques)

1. dry (free from or lacking moisture)

   Synonym: eixut

2. (of wine) dry (low in sugar)
3. 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)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈse̞k]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈsek]
• Homophone: cec

Noun

sec m (plural secs)

1. fold
2. groove
3. wrinkle

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈse̞k]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈsɛk]

Verb

sec

1. first-person singular present indicative of seure

Further reading

• “sec”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “sec”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “sec” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “sec”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Dutch

Etymology

From French sec.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛk/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

sec (used only predicatively, not comparable)

1. (of wine) dry
2. (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^(key): /sɛk/, /sɛkʲ/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Grenoble)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Hérault)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Massy)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛk

Adjective

sec (feminine sèche, masculine plural secs, feminine plural sèches)

1. dry
2. dried, having had its moisture evaporated

   des abricots secs ― dried apricots

   du poisson sec ― dried fish

3. 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.

4. (of alcohol) dry, unsweetened, not sweet, bitter
5. (of a person) curt

   Désolé si j'ai été un peu sec.

   Sorry if I was a bit curt.

Descendants

• → Dutch: sec
• Haitian Creole: sèk
• → Turkish: sek

Noun

sec m (plural secs)

1. 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

1. 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^(key): /ˈsɛt͡s/
• Rhymes: -ɛt͡s
• Syllabification: sec

Verb

sec impf (perfective pósec)

1. to mow (cut something down)

Conjugation

Conjugation of sec (imperfective)

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
participle			other non-finite
present	sececy		infinitive	sec
past active ("ł-form")	sekł		supine	sect
past passive	secony		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)

1. dry

Related terms

• secar

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006), Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎^[2], 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 898
• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana‎^[3], L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2026, page 591

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seːk/
• Rhymes: -eːk

Adjective

sēc (Anglian)

1. alternative form of sēoc

Declension

Declension of sēc — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sēc	sēc	sēc
Accusative	sēcne	sēce	sēc
Genitive	sēces	sēcre	sēces
Dative	sēcum	sēcre	sēcum
Instrumental	sēce	sēcre	sēce
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sēce	sēca, sēce	sēc
Accusative	sēce	sēca, sēce	sēc
Genitive	sēcra	sēcra	sēcra
Dative	sēcum	sēcum	sēcum
Instrumental	sēcum	sēcum	sēcum

Declension of sēc — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sēca	sēce	sēce
Accusative	sēcan	sēcan	sēce
Genitive	sēcan	sēcan	sēcan
Dative	sēcan	sēcan	sēcan
Instrumental	sēcan	sēcan	sēcan
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sēcan	sēcan	sēcan
Accusative	sēcan	sēcan	sēcan
Genitive	sēcra, sēcena	sēcra, sēcena	sēcra, sēcena
Dative	sēcum	sēcum	sēcum
Instrumental	sēcum	sēcum	sēcum

Old French

Etymology

From Latin siccus.

Adjective

sec m (feminine seche)

1. dry (lacking moisture)

Declension

	Case	masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	subject	ses	seche	sec
	oblique	sec			seche	sec
plural	subject	sec	seches		sec
	oblique	ses			seches	sec

Descendants

• French: sec
• Norman: sé
• Walloon: setch

References

• Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “sec”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.
• “sec”, in Anglo-Norman Dictionary, 2nd edition, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: Aberystwyth University, 2001–2026.

Romanian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sek/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

sec m or n (feminine singular seacă, plural seci)

1. dry
2. barren, empty, deserted; also dried up
3. (figuratively) missing or deficient in something, lacking; also useless
4. (figuratively) dull, stupid, empty-headed
5. (regional, Transylvania) skinny

Declension

Declension of sec

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	sec		seacă	seci	seci
	definite	secul		seaca	secii	secile
genitive- dative	indefinite	sec		seci	seci	seci
	definite	secului		secii	secilor	secilor

Synonyms

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

Related terms

• seca
• secetă

Romansh

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)

1. (Sursilvan) dry

Swedish

Adjective

sec

1. dry (especially of white wine)

References

• “sec”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “sec”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)