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Second vs Another - What's the difference?

second | another |

As an adjective second

is number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them the ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two.

As an adverb second

is (with superlative) at the second rank.

As a noun second

is one that is number two in a series or second can be the si unit of time, defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of caesium-133 in a ground state at a temperature of absolute zero and at rest; one-sixtieth of a minute or second can be one who supports another in a contest or combat, such as a dueller's assistant.

As a verb second

is (uk) to transfer temporarily to alternative employment.

As a determiner another is

one more, in addition to a former number; a second or additional one, similar in likeness or in effect.

second

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) second, from (etyl) .

Adjective

(-)
  • Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=20 citation , passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen.
  • Next to the first in value, power, excellence, dignity, or rank; secondary; subordinate; inferior.
  • * Landor
  • May the day when we become the second people upon earth be the day of our utter extirpation.
  • Being of the same kind as one that has preceded; another.
  • * Shakespeare
  • A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel!
    Alternative forms
    * (number-two) , IInd; (in names of monarchs and popes) II
    Synonyms
    * (nonstandard) (l)
    Derived terms
    * secondary * second amendment * second base * second baseman * second-best * second cousin * second fiddle * second-guess * second hand * second imperative (Latin grammar) * second-in-command * second nature * second-storey man

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (with superlative) At the second rank.
  • Saturn is the second largest planet.
  • After the first occurrence but before the third occurrence.
  • He is batting second today.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One that is number two in a series.
  • One that is next in rank, quality, precedence, position, status, or authority.
  • The place that is next below first in a race or contest.
  • (usually in the plural) A manufactured item that, though still usable, fails to meet quality control standards.
  • They were discounted because they contained blemishes, nicks or were otherwise factory seconds .
  • (usually in the plural) An additional helping of food.
  • That was good barbecue. I hope I can get seconds .
  • A chance or attempt to achieve what should have been done the first time, usually indicating success this time around. (See second-guess.)
  • * 2003 , Sheila Ryan Wallace, The Sea Captain and His Ladies , page 22:
  • *:The policeman smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Now if you'll follow me, I'll escort you to the Victoria."
    "Oh, there's no need of that. If you'll just point me in the right direction..."
    That's what got you in trouble the first time around. You don't need a second .
  • *2009 , Paulette Jiles, Stormy Weather , page 37:
  • *:Smoky Joe ran against a Houston horse named Cherokee Chief.
    “Don't hit him,” Jeanine said to the jockey. “Maybe once. But you don't get a second .”
  • * 2011 , Karen Miller, The Innocent Mage :
  • I'll have one chance to show them that's no longer true. One chance ... and if I stumble, I'll not get a second .
  • (music) The interval between two adjacent notes in a diatonic scale (either or both of them may be raised or lowered from the basic scale via any type of accidental).
  • The second gear of an engine.
  • (baseball) Second base.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Alternative forms

    * (SI unit of time) (abbreviations) s, sec; (symbols) s (SI and non-scientific usage), sec (in non-scientific usage only) * (unit of angle) (abbreviations) arcsec,

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The SI unit of time, defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of caesium-133 in a ground state at a temperature of absolute zero and at rest; one-sixtieth of a minute.
  • A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a minute of arc or one part in 3600 of a degree.
  • A short, indeterminate amount of time.
  • I'll be there in a second .
    Synonyms
    * (unit of angle) second of arc, arcsecond * (colloquial) sec *
    Derived terms
    * leap second * millisecond * nanosecond

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (UK) To transfer temporarily to alternative employment.
  • * 1998 — , (Dreamstone Moon) , ch 9
  • Daniel had still been surprised, however, to find the lab area deserted, all the scientists apparently seconded by Cleomides's military friends.
  • To assist or support; to back.
  • * Shakespeare
  • We have supplies to second our attempt.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • In human works though laboured on with pain, / A thousand movements scarce one purpose gain; / In God's, one single can its end produce, / Yet serves to second too some other use.
  • To agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two.
  • I second the motion.
  • To follow in the next place; to succeed.
  • * Fuller
  • In the method of nature, a low valley is immediately seconded with an ambitious hill.
  • * South
  • Sin is seconded with sin.
  • To climb after a lead climber.
  • Derived terms
    * secondment * secondee

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who supports another in a contest or combat, such as a dueller's assistant.
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • One who agrees in addition, or such a motion, as required in certain meetings to pass judgement etc.
  • If we want the motion to pass, we will need a second .
  • (obsolete) Aid; assistance; help.
  • * J. Fletcher
  • Give second , and my love / Is everlasting thine.

    another

    English

    Alternative forms

    * anoda (Jamaican English) * anotha, anotha' (AAVE- eye dialect)

    Determiner

    (head)
  • One more, in addition to a former number; a second or additional one, similar in likeness or in effect.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor;.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Philip J. Bushnell
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance , passage=Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.}}
  • Not the same; different.
  • :
  • *, chapter=22
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.}}
  • *1979 , Micheal Ende, The Neverending Story , p.53 , ISBN 0140386335
  • *:But that is another''''' story and will be told '''''another time.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katrina G. Claw
  • , title= Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}
  • Any or some; any different person, indefinitely; anyone else; someone else.
  • :
  • Usage notes

    * As a fused head construction another'' may have a possessive ''another's'' (''plural:'' ''others'', or possessive plural ''other ). It is much used in opposition to one; as, one went one way, another another. It is also used with one, in a reciprocal sense; as, "love one another," that is, let each love the other or others. ** **: These two imparadised in one another's arms. * Sometimes, the word "whole" is inserted into another by the common process of tmesis, giving: "a whole nother." This is a colloquialism that some recommend avoiding in formal writing. The prescribed alternatives are "a whole other" or "another whole." * There may be ambiguity: "I need another chair." may mean "My chair needs to be replaced." or "I need an additional chair [and I need to keep my existing chair]."

    Derived terms

    * another county heard from * one another * tomorrow is another day *

    References

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    Statistics

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