second hand

See also: second-hand and secondhand

English

Etymology 1

second (ordinal) + hand (“party”)

Alternative forms

• secondhand
• second-hand

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsɛkənd ˈhænd/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

Adjective

second hand (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of secondhand

Usage notes

• secondhand and second-hand may be preferred spellings for the adjective meaning "not new", to avoid confusion with the noun "second hand" referring to the hand of a clock or watch.

Related terms

• at second hand

Translations

secondhand — see secondhand

Noun

second hand (plural second hands)

1. An intermediate person or means; intermediary.
   • 1826, Walter Scott, editor, Memoirs of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St Patrick's, Dublin‎^[1], page 135:

     “My Lord Oxford, by a second hand, proposed my being his chaplain, which I, by a second hand, excused.

   • 1832, James Sheridan Knowles, The Magdalen, and other tales‎^[2], page 3:

     Under certain circumstances there is always a danger in a young man's playing the benefactor towards the other sex, in his own person. A thousand times better do it by a second hand — engage the services of some kind aunt or female cousin.

Derived terms

• at second hand

Etymology 2

second (“unit of time”) + hand (“pointer”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛkənd ˌhænd/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

Noun

second hand (plural second hands)

1. On a clock or watch, the hand or pointer that shows the number of seconds that have passed.

   Coordinate terms: minute hand, hour hand

   • 2018 April 17, Bryan Camp, The City of Lost Fortunes‎^[3], Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC:

     ... the ticking of a second hand. Tick, tick, tick. The clock. Jude wrenched himself free of his gift's trance, surprised that there wasn't a tearing sound when his hand came free of the doubloon. The visions fell away, and he felt his ...

Translations

the hand or pointer that shows the number of seconds that have passed

• Arabic: عَقْرَب ثَوَانِي m (ʕaqrab ṯawānī)
• Belarusian: секу́ндная стрэ́лка f (sjekúndnaja strélka), сэку́ндная стрэ́лка f (sekúndnaja strélka)
• Bulgarian: секу́ндна стрелка́ f (sekúndna strelká)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 秒針／秒针 (zh) (miǎozhēn)

• Dutch: secondewijzer (nl) m
• Finnish: sekuntiosoitin (fi), sekuntiviisari (fi)
• French: trotteuse (fr) f, aiguille des secondes f
• German: Sekundenzeiger (de) m
• Greek: δείκτης δευτερολέπτων m (deíktis defterolépton)
• Hungarian: másodpercmutató (hu)
• Indonesian: jarum detik
• Japanese: 秒針 (ja) (びょうしん, byōshin)
• Korean: 초침(秒針) (ko) (chochim)
• Macedonian: секунда́рник m (sekundárnik)
• Maltese: sekondiera f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sekundviser (no) m

  Nynorsk: sekundvisar m

• Polish: sekundnik m, wskazówka sekundowa f
• Portuguese: ponteiro dos segundos m
• Russian: секу́ндная стре́лка f (sekúndnaja strélka)
• Spanish: segundero (es) m
• Swedish: sekundvisare (sv) c
• Ukrainian: секу́ндна стрі́лка f (sekúndna strílka)

References

• “second hand”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Polish

Alternative forms

• second-hand

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from second-hand clothing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛ.kɛnt xɛnt/

Noun

second hand m inan (related adjective secondhandowy)

1. thrift shop (store that sells second-hand clothing)

   Synonyms: ciuchland, ciucholand, ciuszek, dziadownia, lump, lumpeks, szmaciak, szmateks

Declension

Declension of second hand

	singular	plural
nominative	second hand	second handy
genitive	second handu	second handów
dative	second handowi	second handom
accusative	second hand	second handy
instrumental	second handem	second handami
locative	second handzie	second handach
vocative	second handzie	second handy

Further reading

• second hand in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• second hand in Polish dictionaries at PWN