auxiliary
/ɔːɡˈzɪl.(j)ə.ɹi//ɔɡˈzɪl.(jə).ɹi/
auxiliary adjective: helping; giving assistance or support. Also the ellipsis of auxiliary verb.
Adjective
auxiliary (not comparable)
- Helping; giving assistance or support.
- auxiliary troops
- Supplementary or subsidiary.
- Synonyms:
- accessory
- Held in reserve for exceptional circumstances.
- Of a ship, having both sails and an engine.
- Synonyms:
- motorsailer
- Relating to an auxiliary verb.
Noun
auxiliary (plural auxiliaries)
- A person or group that acts in an auxiliary manner.
- 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.1950 November, “Mixed-Traffic Diesel-Electric Locomotives for Ireland”, in Railway Magazine, page 781
- 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, […].1962 September, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—1”, in Modern Railways, page 163
- A sailing vessel equipped with an engine.
- A marching band color guard.
Also used as
auxiliary is also the ellipsis of auxiliary verb.
auxiliary meaning in Hindi, Malayalam and Vietnamese
auxiliary in Hindi
- helping; giving assistance or support
- सहायक sahāyak
auxiliary in Malayalam
- relating to an auxiliary verb
- സഹായക sahāyaka
auxiliary in Vietnamese
- supplementary or subsidiary
- phụ trợ
Examples of auxiliary in a sentence
- Many languages, including English, use auxiliary verbs in constructing the passive voice.
- In "They have it", have is a full verb, but in "They have done it", it's an auxiliary verb.
- The auxiliaries also occasionally left behind bilingual dedications in Palmyrene with Greek or Latin.
Synonyms of auxiliary
Forms of auxiliary
| plural | auxiliaries |
|---|
Origin of auxiliary
From Latin auxiliārius (“assistant, ally”), equiv. to auxiliāris (“helping, aiding”), from auxilium (“help, aid”), from augēre (“to increase”).
Words formed from auxiliary
- Auxie
- auxiliarily
- auxiliarist
- auxiliary bishop
- auxiliary cell
- 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
Phrases with auxiliary
Words that rhyme with auxiliary
- ciliary
- miliary
- atrabiliary
- nasociliary
- biliary
- circumciliary
- domiciliary
- extraciliary
- interciliary
- intraciliary
- iridociliary
- mucociliary
7 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about auxiliary
- What does auxiliary mean?
- Auxiliary means helping; giving assistance or support.
- What is auxiliary in Hindi?
- Auxiliary in Hindi is सहायक (sahāyak). See Auxiliary meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is auxiliary?
- Auxiliary can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce auxiliary?
- Auxiliary is pronounced /ɔːɡˈzɪl.(j)ə.ɹi/ (UK).
Words near auxiliary in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: auxiliary (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-auxiliary.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-auxiliary.wav.
Cite this entry: “auxiliary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/auxiliary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.