different between slight vs secondary

English

Etymology

From Middle English slight (“bad, of poor quality, unimportant, trivial, slender, slim, smooth, level”), from Old English sliht (“smooth, level”), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz (“slippery, flat, level, plain”), related to English slick. Cognate with Scots slicht (“bad, of poor quality”), West Frisian sljocht (“smooth, level, plain, simple”), Dutch slecht (“bad”), Low German slecht (“bad”), German schlecht (“bad”) and schlicht (“plain, artless, natural”), Danish slet (“bad, evil, poor, nasty, wrong”), Swedish slät (“smooth”), Norwegian slett (“even”), Icelandic sléttur (“even, smooth, level”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sl?t, IPA^(key): /sla?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): [sl?l?????]
• Rhymes: -a?t
• Homophone: sleight

Adjective

slight (comparative slighter, superlative slightest)

1. Small
   1. gentle or weak, not aggressive or powerful

   2. not thorough; superficial

   3. trifling; unimportant; insignificant
      • 1741, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education & of the Conduct of the Understanding

        Some firmly embrace doctrines upon slight grounds.

   4. (archaic or rare) not far away in space or time

   Synonyms: ignorable, meaningless, negligible, tiny; see also Thesaurus:tiny, Thesaurus:insignificant

2. of slender build
   • 1822, Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak

     his own figure, which was formerly so slight

   Synonyms: lithe, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender

3. (regional) Even, smooth or level

   Synonyms: flat, glassy, slick; see also Thesaurus:smooth

4. (especially said of the sea) still; with little or no movement on the surface

5. (obsolete) Foolish; silly; not intellectual.

   Synonyms: daft, fatuous, soft in the head; see also Thesaurus:foolish

6. (regional, obsolete) Bad, of poor quality.
   • 1889 (first published), George Washington, Writings

     we frequently have slight Goods and sometimes old and unsaleable Articles

   Synonyms: flimsy, lousy, shoddy; see also Thesaurus:low-quality

7. (dated) Slighting; treating with disdain.

   Synonyms: contemptuous, disdainful, scornful; see also Thesaurus:disdainful

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

slight (third-person singular simple present slights, present participle slighting, simple past and past participle slighted)

1. (transitive) To treat as unimportant or not worthy of attention; to make light of.
   • 1782, William Cowper, Truth

     the wretch who slights the bounty of the skies

2. (transitive) To give lesser weight or importance to.
   • 1915, Josephine Turck Baker, Correct English (volumes 16-17, page 182)

     Incontiguously (accent on tig; the rest of the syllables slighted) means in an incontiguous manner.

   Synonym: belittle

   Antonyms: respect, value, esteem

3. (transitive) To treat with disdain or neglect, usually out of prejudice, hatred, or jealousy; to ignore disrespectfully.
   • 1833, Mary Shelley, The Mortal Immortal

     Though true of heart, she was somewhat of a coquette in manner; and I was jealous as a Turk. She slighted me in a thousand ways, yet would never acknowledge herself to be in the wrong. She would drive me mad with anger, and then force me to beg her pardon.

   Synonyms: contemn, despise

   Antonyms: respect, honor

4. (intransitive) To act negligently or carelessly. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
5. (transitive, military, of a fortification) To render no longer defensible by full or partial demolition.
6. (transitive) To make even or level.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hexham to this entry?)

7. (transitive) To throw heedlessly.

Derived terms

• slightingly

Translations

Noun

slight (plural slights)

1. The act of slighting; a deliberate act of neglect or discourtesy.

   Synonyms: ignoring, neglect, belittlement

   Antonym: respect

   • 1793, Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

     Never use a slighting expression to her, even in jest; for slights in jest, after frequent bandyings, are apt to end in angry earnest.
2. (obsolete) Sleight.

   • For till that stownd could never wight him harme,
     By subtilty, nor slight, nor might, nor mighty charme.

Derived terms

• put a slight upon

Translations

Further reading

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language
• The Dictionary of the Scots Language
• The Middle English Dictionary

Anagrams

• lights

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English sliht, from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz.

Alternative forms

• sli?t, slei?te, sle?t, slyght, sleght, sleight, sly?t

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slixt/, /sl?xt/
• Rhymes: -ixt

Adjective

slight

1. Level, even, smooth; having no bumps or lumps.
2. (rare) Of little importance or relevance.
3. (rare) Slim, narrow, skinny; of little breadth.
4. (rare) Badly made, poorly-built, or low-quality.

Descendants

• English: slight
• Scots: slicht
• Yola: sleight

References

• “slight, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-12.

Etymology 2

Noun

slight

1. Alternative form of sleight

Adjective

slight

1. Alternative form of sleight

English

Etymology

From Middle English secundarie, from Latin secund?rius (“of the second class or quality”), from secundus (whence the English second) + -?rius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French secondaire, the Italian secondario, the Occitan secundari, the Portuguese secundario, and the Spanish secundario.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?s?k?nd(?)??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?s?k?n?d??i/

Adjective

secondary (not generally comparable, comparative more secondary, superlative most secondary)

1. Next in order to the first or primary; of second place in origin, rank, etc.
2. Originating from a deputy or delegated person or body

3. (organic chemistry) Derived from a parent compound by replacement of two atoms of hydrogen by organic radicals
4. (geology) Produced by alteration or deposition subsequent to the formation of the original rock mass.
5. (geology) Developed by pressure or other causes.

6. (anatomy) Pertaining to the second joint of the wing of a bird.
7. (medicine) Dependent or consequent upon another disease, or occurring in the second stage of a disease.

   Bright's disease is often secondary to scarlet fever.

   the secondary symptoms of syphilis

8. Of less than primary importance.
9. (education) Related to secondary education, i.e. schooling between the ages of (approximately) 11 and 18.
10. (manufacturing) Relating to the manufacture of goods from raw materials.
11. (of a color) Formed by mixing primary colors.

    Yellow is a secondary light color, though a primary CMYK color.

12. (taxonomy, not comparable) Representing a reversion to an ancestral state.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

secondary (plural secondaries)

1. (ornithology) Any flight feather attached to the ulna (forearm) of a bird.
2. (aviation) A radar return generated by the response of an aircraft's transponder to an interrogation signal broadcast by a radar installation, containing additional encoded identification and situational data not available from a simple primary return.
3. (military) The second stage of a multistage thermonuclear weapon, which generates a fusion explosion when imploded as an indirect result of the fission explosion of the primary; in a few extremely large weapons, the secondary may itself implode a fusion tertiary.
4. (finance) An act of issuing more stock by an already publicly traded corporation.
5. (American football, Canadian football) The defensive backs.
6. (electronics) An inductive coil or loop that is magnetically powered by a primary in a transformer or similar.
7. One who occupies a subordinate or auxiliary place; a delegate deputy.

   the secondary, or undersheriff, of the city of London
8. (astronomy) A secondary circle.
9. (astronomy) A satellite.
10. (education) A secondary school.

    There are four secondaries in this district, each with several thousand pupils.

11. Anything secondary or of lesser importance.

Translations

Middle English

Adjective

secondary

1. Alternative form of secundarie

Noun

secondary

1. Alternative form of secundarie