A second is directly part of other units, such as frequency measured in hertz (inverse seconds or s −1), speed in meters per second, and acceleration in meters per second squared.
SECOND definition: 1. immediately after the first and before any others: 2. the position in which a person finishes a…. Learn more.
The meaning of SECOND is next to the first in place or time. How to use second in a sentence.
Automotive second gear:[uncountable] The gearshift sticks when I try to shift into second. Usually, seconds. [plural] an additional helping of food: Can we have seconds on the turkey?
Inherited from Old French secunt, second, segont, borrowed as a semi-learned term from Latin secundus (“second”); related to sequi (“follow”). Doublet of son (“bran”), which was inherited.
- In the second order, place, or rank: finished second. 2. But for one other; save one: the second highest peak.
Since 1967, the second has been defined to be: SI prefixes are frequently combined with the word second to denote subdivisions of the second, e.g., the millisecond, the microsecond, and the nanosecond.
Originally, the second was known as a "second minute", meaning the second minute (i.e. small) division of an hour. The first division was known as a "prime minute" and is equivalent to the minute we know today.
She took a second helping [=she took another serving] of carrots. English as a second language [=a language that you learn in addition to the language you first learned when you were a young child]
You say second when you want to make a second point or give a second reason for something. The soil is depleted first by crops grown in it and second by bacterial action.