What is "second"

Second \Sec"ond\, a. [F., fr. L. secundus second, properly, following, fr. sequi to follow. See Sue to follow, and cf. Secund.]

1. Immediately following the first; next to the first in order of place or time; hence, occurring again; another; other.

   And he slept and dreamed the second time.
   --Gen. xli. 5.

2. Next to the first in value, power, excellence, dignity, or rank; secondary; subordinate; inferior.

   May the day when we become the second people upon earth . . . be the day of our utter extirpation.
   --Landor.

3. Being of the same kind as another that has preceded; another, like a prototype; as, a second Cato; a second Troy; a second deluge.

   A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel!
   --Shak.

   Second Adventist. See Adventist.

   Second cousin, the child of a cousin.

   Second-cut file. See under File.

   Second distance (Art), that part of a picture between the foreground and the background; -- called also middle ground, or middle distance. [R.]

   Second estate (Eng.), the House of Peers.

   Second girl, a female house-servant who does the lighter work, as chamber work or waiting on table.

   Second intention. See under Intention.

   Second story, Second floor, in America, the second range of rooms from the street level. This, in England, is called the first floor, the one beneath being the ground floor.

   Second thought or Second thoughts, consideration of a matter following a first impulse or impression; reconsideration.

   On second thoughts, gentlemen, I don't wish you had known him.
   --Dickens.

Second \Sec"ond\, n.

1. One who, or that which, follows, or comes after; one next and inferior in place, time, rank, importance, excellence, or power.

   Man An angel's second, nor his second long.
   --Young.

2. One who follows or attends another for his support and aid; a backer; an assistant; specifically, one who acts as another's aid in a duel.

   Being sure enough of seconds after the first onset.
   --Sir H. Wotton.

3. Aid; assistance; help. [Obs.]

   Give second, and my love Is everlasting thine.
   --J. Fletcher.

4. pl. An article of merchandise of a grade inferior to the best; esp., a coarse or inferior kind of flour.

5. [F. seconde. See Second, a.] The sixtieth part of a minute of time or of a minute of space, that is, the second regular subdivision of the degree; as, sound moves about 1,140 English feet in a second; five minutes and ten seconds north of this place.

6. In the duodecimal system of mensuration, the twelfth part of an inch or prime; a line. See Inch, and Prime, n., 8.

7. (Mus.)

   1. The interval between any tone and the tone which is represented on the degree of the staff next above it.

   2. The second part in a concerted piece; -- often popularly applied to the alto.

8. (Parliamentary Procedure) A motion in support of another motion which has been moved in a deliberative body; a motion without a second dies without discussion.

   Second hand, the hand which marks the seconds on the dial of a watch or a clock.

Second \Sec"ond\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Seconded; p. pr. & vb. n. Seconding.] [Cf. F. seconder, L. secundare, from secundus. See Second, a.]

1. To follow in the next place; to succeed; to alternate.

   In the method of nature, a low valley is immediately seconded with an ambitious hill.
   --Fuller.

   Sin is seconded with sin.
   --South.

2. To follow or attend for the purpose of assisting; to support; to back; to act as the second of; to assist; to forward; to encourage.

   We have supplies to second our attempt.
   --Shak.

   In human works though labored on with pain, A thousand movements scarce one purpose gain; In God's, one single can its end produce, Yet serves to second too some other use.
   --Pope.

3. Specifically, (Parliamentary Procedure) to support, as a motion[6] or proposal, by adding one's voice to that of the mover or proposer.

   Note: Under common parliamentary rules used by many organizations, especially legislative bodies, a motion must be seconded in order to come properly before the deliberative body for discussion. Any motion[6] for which there is no second[8] dies for lack thereof.

"one-sixtieth of a minute of degree," also "sixtieth part of a minute of time," late 14c. in geometry, from Old French seconde, from Medieval Latin secunda, short for secunda pars minuta "second diminished part," the result of the second division of the hour by sixty (the first being the "prime minute," now called the minute), from Latin secunda, fem. of secundus (see second (adj.)). The second hand of a clock is attested from 1759.

1580s, "to support or represent in a duel, fight, etc.," from Middle French seconder, from Latin secundare "to assist, make favorable," from secundus "assisting, favorable, following, second" (see second (adj.)). The parliamentary sense is first recorded 1590s. Related: Seconded; seconding.

"assistant, supporter," 1580s, from second (v.).

"next after first," c.1300, from Old French second, secont, and directly from Latin secundus "following, next in time or order," also "secondary, subordinate, inferior," from root of sequi "follow" (see sequel). Replaced native other in this sense because of the ambiguousness of the earlier word. Second sight is from 1610s; an etymologically perverse term, because it means in reality the sight of events before, not after, they occur. Second fiddle first attested 1809:\n\nA metaphor borrowed from a musical performer who plays the second or counter to one who plays the first or the "air."

[Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]

Etymology 1

1. Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two. adv. 1 (context with superlative English) At the second rank. 2 After the first occurrence but before the third occurrence. alt. 1 (context with superlative English) At the second rank. 2 After the first occurrence but before the third occurrence. n. 1 One that is number two in a series. 2 One that is next in rank, quality, precedence, position, status, or authority. 3 The place that is next below first in a race or contest. 4 (context usually in the plural English) A manufactured item that, though still usable, fails to meet quality control standards. 5 (context usually in the plural English) An additional helping of food. 6 A chance or attempt to achieve what should have been done the first time, usually indicating success this time around. (See second-guess.) 7 (context music English) The interval between two adjacent notes in a diatonic scale (either or both of them may be raised or lowered from the basic scale via any type of accidental). 8 The second gear of an engine. 9 (context baseball English) second base. v

2. 1 (context transitive English) To agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two. (See under #Etymology 3 for translations.) 2 To follow in the next place; to succeed. 3 (context climbing English) To climb after a lead climber. Etymology 2

   alt. 1 The SI unit of time, defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of caesium-133 in a ground state at a temperature of absolute zero and at rest; one-sixtieth of a minute. 2 A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a minute of arc or one part in 3600 of a degree. 3 A short, indeterminate amount of time. n. 1 The SI unit of time, defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of caesium-133 in a ground state at a temperature of absolute zero and at rest; one-sixtieth of a minute. 2 A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a minute of arc or one part in 3600 of a degree. 3 A short, indeterminate amount of time. Etymology 3

   n. 1 One who supports another in a contest or combat, such as a dueller's assistant. 2 One who agrees in addition, or such a motion, as required in certain meetings to pass judgement et

3. 3 (context obsolete English) Aid; assistance; help. vb. 1 (context transitive UK English) To transfer temporarily to alternative employment. 2 (context transitive English) To assist or support; to back. 3 (context transitive English) To agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two. (This may come from the English adjective above.)

1. adj. coming next after the first in position in space or time or degree or magnitude [syn: 2nd, 2d]

2. coming next after first; "a second chance"; "the second vice president"

3. a part or voice or instrument or orchestra section lower in pitch than or subordinate to the first; "second flute"; "the second violins" [ant: first]

4. having the second highest gear ratio; "second gear"

adv. in the second place; "second, we must consider the economy" [syn: secondly]

1. v. give support or one's approval to; "I'll second that motion"; "I can't back this plan"; "endorse a new project" [syn: back, endorse, indorse]

2. transfer an employee to a different, temporary assignment; "The officer was seconded for duty overseas"

1. n. 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites [syn: sec, s]

2. an indefinitely short time; "wait just a moment"; "it only takes a minute"; "in just a bit" [syn: moment, minute, bit]

3. the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed near 2nd base [syn: second base]

4. a particular point in time; "the moment he arrived the party began" [syn: moment, minute, instant]

5. following the first in an ordering or series; "he came in a close second"

6. a 60th part of a minute of arc; "the treasure is 2 minutes and 45 seconds south of here" [syn: arcsecond]

7. the official attendant of a contestant in a duel or boxing match

8. a speech seconding a motion; "do I hear a second?" [syn: secondment, endorsement, indorsement]

9. the gear that has the second lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; "he had to shift down into second to make the hill" [syn: second gear]

10. merchandise that has imperfections; usually sold at a reduced price without the brand name [syn: irregular]

A second is a unit of time.

Second or Seconds may also refer to

In deliberative bodies a second to a proposed motion is an indication that there is at least one person besides the mover that is interested in seeing the motion come before the meeting. It does not necessarily indicate that the seconder favors the motion.

Second is the second official recording by the metal band Baroness. It was recorded in one session, with the exception of the vocals. The art work was done by Baroness singer John Baizley.

In curling, the second is the person who delivers the second pair of stones. On most teams, where the second does not act as skip or vice, the second will sweep for each of his teammates. Due to the free-guard rule, which prevents some early stones from being removed from play by the leads, the second is usually a curler with a high degree of proficiency throwing takeouts, peels, and other power shots.

The second (symbol: s) (abbreviated s or sec) is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). It is qualitatively defined as the second division of the hour by sixty, the first division by sixty being the minute. It is quantitatively defined in terms of exactly 9,192,631,770 periods of a certain frequency of radiation from the caesium atom: a so-called atomic clock. Seconds may be measured using a mechanical, electric or atomic clock.

SI prefixes are combined with the word second to denote subdivisions of the second, e.g., the millisecond (one thousandth of a second), the microsecond (one millionth of a second), and the nanosecond (one billionth of a second). Though SI prefixes may also be used to form multiples of the second such as kilosecond (one thousand seconds), such units are rarely used in practice. The more common larger non-SI units of time are not formed by powers of ten; instead, the second is multiplied by 60 to form a minute, which is multiplied by 60 to form an hour, which is multiplied by 24 to form a day.

The second is also the base unit of time in other systems of measurement: the centimetre–gram–second, metre–kilogram–second, metre–tonne–second, and foot–pound–second systems of units.