auxiliary

English

Etymology

From Latin auxiliārius (“assistant, ally”), equiv. to auxiliāris (“helping, aiding”), from auxilium (“help, aid”), from augēre (“to increase”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɔːɡˈzɪl(j)əɹi/, /ɔːkˈsɪl(j)əɹi/, /ɔːɡˈzɪli.əɹi/, /ɔːkˈsɪli.əɹi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɔɡˈzɪl(j)(ə)ɹi/, /ɔɡˈzɪliɛɹi/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑɡˈzɪl(j)(ə)ɹi/, /ɑɡˈzɪliɛɹi/
• Rhymes: -ɪliəɹi
• Rhymes: -ɪliɛəɹi
• Rhymes: -ɪləɹi

Adjective

auxiliary (not comparable)

1. Helping; giving assistance or support.

   auxiliary troops

   Synonyms: ancillary, accessory

2. Supplementary or subsidiary.
3. Held in reserve for exceptional circumstances.
4. (nautical) Of a ship, having both sails and an engine.
5. (grammar) Relating to an auxiliary verb.

Synonyms

• (supplementary): accessory
• (having sails and engine): motorsailer

Translations

helping; giving assistance or support

• Armenian: օժանդակ (hy) (ōžandak)
• Bulgarian: помощен (bg) (pomošten), спомагателен (bg) (spomagatelen)
• Catalan: auxiliar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 輔助／辅助 (zh) (fǔzhù)

• Czech: pomocný (cs) m
• Dutch: helpend (nl), ondersteunend (nl), hulp- (prefix)
• Esperanto: helpa
• Estonian: abistav (et)
• Finnish: apu-, lisä- (fi), avustava (fi)
• German: helfend (de), unterstützend (de), hilfs- (prefix), auxiliar (de)
• Greek: βοηθητικός (el) m (voïthitikós)
• Hindi: सहायक (hi) c (sahāyak)
• Hungarian: kisegítő (hu), segéd- (hu)
• Ido: helpiva (io), helpanta (io)
• Irish: cúntach
• Japanese: 補助の (ほじょの)
• Korean: 보조 (ko) (bojo)
• Latin: auxiliāris
• Polish: pomocniczy (pl) m, pomocnicza f, pomocnicze n
• Portuguese: auxiliar (pt)
• Russian: вспомога́тельный (ru) (vspomogátelʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: pòmoćnī
• Welsh: ategol
• Zazaki: peştiger

supplementary or subsidiary

• Armenian: օժանդակ (hy) (ōžandak)
• Bulgarian: допълнителен (bg) (dopǎlnitelen)
• Catalan: auxiliar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 附属 (zh) (fùshǔ)

• Dutch: extra (nl), bijkomend (nl), ondersteunend (nl), hulp- (prefix)
• Estonian: täiendav
• Finnish: apu- (fi)
• German: subsidiär (de), unterstützend (de)
• Greek: δευτερεύων (el) m (defterévon), επικουρικός (el) m (epikourikós)
• Hungarian: kiegészítő (hu)
• Latin: auxiliāris
• Portuguese: auxiliar (pt)
• Russian: вспомога́тельный (ru) (vspomogátelʹnyj), дополни́тельный (ru) (dopolnítelʹnyj), запасно́й (ru) (zapasnój)
• Serbo-Croatian: spȍredan (sh), ȕzgrēdan (sh), ùsputan (sh)
• Spanish: auxiliar (es)
• Vietnamese: phụ trợ
• Welsh: atodol

held in reserve for exceptional circumstances

• Bulgarian: резервен (bg) (rezerven)
• Dutch: reserve- (prefix)
• Finnish: apu-, lisä- (fi)
• German: zurückhaltend (de),
• Greek: αποθεματικός (el) m (apothematikós), ανταλλακτικός (el) m (antallaktikós)
• Hungarian: tartalék (hu)
• Polish: rezerwowy (pl) m, rezerwowa f, rezerwowe n
• Portuguese: auxiliar (pt)
• Russian: вспомога́тельный (ru) (vspomogátelʹnyj), дополни́тельный (ru) (dopolnítelʹnyj), запасно́й (ru) (zapasnój)
• Serbo-Croatian: príčuvnī (sh)

of a ship, having both sails and an engine

• Dutch: met hulpmotor (nl)
• Finnish: apumoottorillinen
• Japanese: 補助艦艇の (ほじょかんていの)

relating to an auxiliary verb

• Bulgarian: спомагателен (bg) (spomagatelen)
• Catalan: auxiliar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 助动词 (zh) (zhùdòngcí)

• Dutch: hulp- (prefix)
• Finnish: apu-
• French: auxiliaire (fr) m
• Hungarian: segédigei, ^{(please verify)} segéd- (hu)
• Japanese: 助動詞の (じょどうしの)
• Malayalam: സഹായക (sahāyaka)
• Norwegian: hjelpe-, hjelpeverb n
• Polish: posiłkowy m, posiłkowa f, posiłkowe n
• Portuguese: auxiliar (pt)
• Russian: вспомога́тельный (ru) (vspomogátelʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: pòmoćnī
• Welsh: ategol

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} auxiliara (io)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} auxiliar
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} ausiliare (it), ^{(please verify)} ausiliario (it)

Noun

auxiliary (plural auxiliaries)

1. A person or group that acts in an auxiliary manner.
   • 1950 November, “Mixed-Traffic Diesel-Electric Locomotives for Ireland”, in Railway Magazine, page 781:

     Auxiliaries and ancillaries are comprehensive, and include a Westinghouse motor-driven recriprocating compressor used for locomotive braking and general service air, two rotary exhauster sets for train brakes when hauling passenger or fitted freight trains, and an oil-fired train heating boiler.

   • 1962 September, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—1”, in Modern Railways, page 163:

     A drive to exploit the Highlands as a winter sports area, with all the necessary auxiliaries, such as chair lifts in the Cairngorms, shows increasing promise, [...].

2. A sailing vessel equipped with an engine.
3. (grammar) An auxiliary verb.
   • 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 151:

     The three traditionally recognized Non-modal Auxiliaries are the per-
     fective Auxiliary have, the progressive Auxiliary be, and the passive Auxiliary
     be. Perfective have is so-called because it marks the completion (hence, perfec-
     tion) of an action; it is followed by a VP headed by a perfective -n participle, as
     in:
     (121)    The referee has [_VP shown him the red card]

4. A marching band colorguard.

Translations

person or group that acts in an auxiliary manner

• Bulgarian: помощник (bg) (pomoštnik)
• Finnish: avustaja (fi)
• German: Helfer (de) m, Hilfskraft (de) f
• Ido: helpanto (io), helpero (io), helpilo (io), helpivo (io)
• Italian: ausiliare (it)
• Japanese: 補助者 (ほじょしゃ)
• Latin: auxiliāris m
• Maori: whaitaua
• Portuguese: auxiliar (pt)
• Russian: помо́щник (ru) m (pomóščnik), ассисте́нт (ru) m (assistént),подсо́бник (ru) m (podsóbnik)
• Spanish: auxiliar (es) m or f, ayudante (es) m or f
• Turkish: yardımcı (tr)

sailing vessel equipped with an engine

• Dutch: zeilboot met hulpmotor (nl)
• Japanese: 補助艦艇 (ほじょかんてい)

auxiliary verb — see auxiliary verb

Derived terms

• Auxie
• auxiliarily
• auxiliarist
• auxiliary bishop
• auxiliary cruiser
• auxiliary ego
• auxiliary language
• auxiliary oiler
• auxiliary power unit
• auxiliary storage
• auxlang
• electroauxiliary
• international auxiliary language
• ladies' auxiliary
• modal auxiliary
• nonauxiliary
• nurse auxiliary
• perfect auxiliary
• semiauxiliary

 

Related terms

• auction
• auctioneer
• augment
• augmentation

 

See also

• axillary

Further reading

• “auxiliary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “auxiliary”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “auxiliary”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.