| 释义 |
ˈunder-ˌsecretary
(under-1 6 a. Cf. G. untersecretär, Sw. undersekreter.)
Used esp. as the specific title of a secretary immediately subordinate to, or ranking below, a principal secretary of state. Parliamentary Under-Secretary (of State), a member in a department of State, ranking below a minister: see parliamentary a. 1; Permanent Under-Secretary: see permanent a. 1 d; also used for various other ranks in the administrative civil service, esp. as a title next below Deputy Secretary.
1687Miége i, Sou-Secretaire, an Vnder-Secretary. 1692Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 372 Said, Mr. Poultney goes undersecretary to Ireland. 1764in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. I. 376, I have known a great many under⁓secretaries. 1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 176/2 Each [secretary] is assisted by two under-secretaries of state. 1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. III. xiii. 191 Consulted through the under⁓secretaries, Franklin gave advice on the conduct of the..war. 1904Rep. War Office Committee in Parl. Papers 9 (Cd. 1932) VIII. 101 The Council should consist of seven members—four military and three civil—with the Permanent Under-Secretary as Secretary. 1917G. Bell Let. 20 July (1927) II. xvi. 420, I wish you would go and see Sir A. Hirtzel, the Permanent Under-Secretary. 1959C. Dixon Civil Service v. 47 The Administrative Class is the top Class of the Civil Service. Direct entrants come in as Assistant Principals and then proceed by promotion to Principal; the next grades are Assistant Secretary and Under-Secretary (or Assistant Under-Secretary in some departments). 1980Kellner & Crowther-Hunt Civil Servants vii. 167 By the time a civil servant is ripe to join the highest ranks of the Service—Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Permanent Secretary—he needs to have acquired certain qualities. Ibid. 170 Where Assistant Secretaries handle the details of specific issues, Under Secretaries supervise wide areas of policy.
Hence ˈunder-ˌsecretaryship.
1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. 1859Lever Dav. Dunn lxiii, He might..mayhap have held some Lordship of This or Under-Secretaryship of That. |