# ancillary

Pronunciation: US say "AN-suh-lair-ee" /ˈæn.səˌlɛɹ.i/; say "an-SIL-uh-ree" UK /ænˈsɪl.ə.ɹiː/, AUS /ænˈsɪl.ə.ɹi/

## Adjective

1. Playing a secondary role beneath something more important or central, and serving to support it.
   - Simple: Less important than the main thing, and there to help or support it.
   - _The committee treated cost as ancillary to the question of patient safety._
   - _The airport earns much of its revenue from ancillary services such as parking and retail._

## Noun

2. Something that plays a supporting or secondary role alongside a main task or thing, as an easel does for a painter.
   - Simple: A thing that helps with a main job, like an easel for a painter.
   - _Mechanics checked the engine's ancillaries, from the alternator to the cooling fan, before the locomotive left the depot._
   - _For a wedding photographer, a spare battery is the most important ancillary in the bag._

## Noun

3. A person or thing that gives extra help or support to someone or something else. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A person or thing that gives extra help.
   - _The surveyor hired a local ancillary to hold the measuring chain and clear brush from the line._
   - _Every master in the workshop kept two or three ancillaries to fetch tools and tend the fire._

## Origin

From Latin ancillāris ("ancillary; relating to maids"), which comes from ancilla ("maid").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ancillary (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).