Adjacent Words

Auxiliary definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AUXIL'IARY, a. [L. auxiliaris, from auxilium, aid, uuxilior, to aid.]
Helping; aiding; assisting; subsidiary; conferring aid or support by joint exertion, influence or use; as auxiliary troops.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: functioning in a supporting capacity; "the main library and its auxiliary branches" [syn: auxiliary, subsidiary, supplemental, supplementary]
2: furnishing added support; "an ancillary pump"; "an adjuvant discipline to forms of mysticism"; "The mind and emotions are auxiliary to each other" [syn: accessory, adjunct, ancillary, adjuvant, appurtenant, auxiliary] n
1: someone who acts as assistant [syn: aide, auxiliary]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Latin auxiliaris, from auxilium help; akin to Latin aug?re to increase — more at eke Date: 15th century 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> II. noun (plural -ries) Date: 1567 1. a. an auxiliary person, group, or device; 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. an auxiliary boat or ship 3. an auxiliary verb

Britannica Concise

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.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 (of a person or thing) that gives help. 2 (of services or equipment) subsidiary, additional. --n. (pl. -ies) 1 an auxiliary person or thing. 2 (in pl.) Mil. auxiliary troops. 3 Gram. an auxiliary verb. Phrases and idioms: auxiliary troops Mil. foreign or allied troops in a belligerent nation's service. auxiliary verb Gram. one used in forming tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs. Etymology: L auxiliarius f. auxilium help

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Auxiliary Aux*il"ia*ry (?; 106), a. [L. auxiliarius, fr. auxilium help, aid, fr. augere to increase.] Conferring aid or help; helping; aiding; assisting; subsidiary; as auxiliary troops. Auxiliary scales (Mus.), the scales of relative or attendant keys. See under Attendant, a. Auxiliary verbs (Gram.). See Auxiliary, n., 3.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Auxiliary Aux*il"ia*ry, n.; pl. Auxiliaries. 1. A helper; an assistant; a confederate in some action or enterprise. 2. (Mil.) pl. Foreign troops in the service of a nation at war; (rarely in sing.), a member of the allied or subsidiary force. 3. (Gram.) A verb which helps to form the voices, modes, and tenses of other verbs; -- called, also, an auxiliary verb; as, have, be, may, can, do, must, shall, and will, in English; [^e]tre and avoir, in French; avere and essere, in Italian; estar and haber, in Spanish. 4. (Math.) A quantity introduced for the purpose of simplifying or facilitating some operation, as in equations or trigonometrical formul[ae]. --Math. Dict.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(auxiliaries) 1. An auxiliary is a person who is employed to assist other people in their work. Auxiliaries are often medical workers or members of the armed forces. Nursing auxiliaries provide basic care, but are not qualified nurses. = ancillary N-COUNT 2. Auxiliary staff and troops assist other staff and troops. The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces. ADJ: ADJ n 3. Auxiliary equipment is extra equipment that is available for use when necessary. ...an auxiliary motor. ...auxiliary fuel tanks. ADJ: ADJ n 4. In grammar, an auxiliary or auxiliary verb is a verb which is used with a main verb, for example to form different tenses or to make the verb passive. In English, the basic auxiliary verbs are 'be', 'have', and 'do'. Modal verbs such as 'can' and 'will' are also sometimes called auxiliaries. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Aiding, helping, assisting, ancillary, subsidiary, helpful. II. n. Helper, assistant, coadjutor, adjuvant, co-operative, ally, confederate. See accessory.

Moby Thesaurus

abetting, accessory, accident, accidental, acolyte, addendum, addition, additional, adjunct, adjutant, adjuvant, adscititious, adventitious, agent, aid, aide, aide-de-camp, aider, aiding, alter ego, ancillary, another, appendage, appurtenance, appurtenant, ascititious, assistance, assistant, assisting, attendant, auxiliary verb, backing, best man, casual, circumstantial, coadjutant, coadjutor, coadjutress, coadjutrix, collateral, complementary, contingency, contingent, contributory, copula, defective verb, deponent verb, deputy, executive officer, extra, farther, finite verb, fortuitous, fostering, fresh, further, girl Friday, happenstance, help, helper, helpful, helping, helpmate, helpmeet, impersonal verb, incidental, inessential, infinitive, instrumental, intransitive, intransitive verb, lieutenant, linking verb, man Friday, mere chance, ministerial, ministering, ministrant, modal auxiliary, more, neuter verb, new, nonessential, not-self, nurtural, nutricial, other, paranymph, paraprofessional, peripheral, plus, reserve, second, secondary, servant, serving, sideman, spare, subordinate, subservient, subsidiary, superadded, superaddition, superfluous, supernumerary, supervenient, supplement, supplemental, supplementary, support, supporter, supporting, supporting actor, supporting instrumentalist, supportive, surplus, transitive, tributary, ulterior, unessential, upholding, verb, verb phrase, verbal