Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Giving assistance or support; helping.
  • adjective Acting as a subsidiary; supplementary.
  • adjective Held in or used as a reserve.
  • adjective Nautical Equipped with a motor as well as sails.
  • adjective Grammar Of, relating to, or being an auxiliary verb.
  • noun An individual or group that assists or functions in a supporting capacity.
  • noun A member of a foreign body of troops serving a country in war.
  • noun Grammar An auxiliary verb.
  • noun A sailing vessel equipped with a motor.
  • noun A vessel, such as a supply ship or a tug, that is designed for and used in instances and services other than combat.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In the nomenclature of the sutural inflections in the ammonoid cephalopods, a lobe or saddle lying between the umbilical curve or line of involution and the second lateral lobe.
  • noun In mech., any machine except the principal one: a term applied specifically to the feed-pumps, fire-pumps, etc., in power plants.
  • noun A vessel fitted with power other than sails for propulsion but depending ordinarily on the latter.
  • Helping; aiding; assisting; giving support or succor; hence, subsidiary; additional: as, auxiliary troops; auxiliary engines.
  • noun A helper; an assistant; a confederate in some action, enterprise, or undertaking; an aid of any kind.
  • noun Specifically—2. plural Foreign troops in the service of a nation at war.
  • noun In grammar, a verb used in forming, with the infinitive and participles of other verbs, phrases having the value of, or a value analogous to that of, modes and tenses: thus, I do love, I have loved, I shall love, I am loved.
  • noun In mathematics, an auxiliary quantity (which see, under I.).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Conferring aid or help; helping; aiding; assisting; subsidiary; as auxiliary troops.
  • adjective (Mus.) the scales of relative or attendant keys. See under Attendant, a.
  • adjective (Gram.) See Auxiliary, n., 3.
  • noun A helper; an assistant; a confederate in some action or enterprise.
  • noun (Mil.) Foreign troops in the service of a nation at war; (rarely in sing.), a member of the allied or subsidiary force.
  • noun (Gram.) A verb which helps to form the voices, modes, and tenses of other verbs; -- called, also, an auxiliary verb
  • noun (Math.) A quantity introduced for the purpose of simplifying or facilitating some operation, as in equations or trigonometrical formulæ.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Helping; giving assistance or support.
  • adjective Supplementary or subsidiary.
  • adjective Held in reserve for exceptional circumstances.
  • adjective nautical Of a ship, having both sails and an engine.
  • adjective grammar Relating to an auxiliary verb.
  • noun A person or group that acts in an auxiliary manner.
  • noun A sailing vessel equipped with an engine.
  • noun grammar An auxiliary verb.
  • noun A marching band colorguard.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective furnishing added support
  • adjective functioning in a supporting capacity
  • noun someone who acts as assistant

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Latin auxiliārius, from auxilium, help; see aug- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin auxiliarius, equiv. to auxiliaris ("helping, aiding"), from auxilium ("help, aid"), from augere ("to increase").

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Examples

  • Headquarters: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with main auxiliary clubhouses in Dallas and Houston.

    What Happens Next? The Complex Post-Election Landscape The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • Because certain auxiliary equipment is lacking, the model owned by the DPRK is considered by experts to be incapable of achieving the level of quality seen on supernotes.

    North Korea and the Supernote Enigma : Coin Collecting News 2008

  • They declared their inclusion, besides men, and not just in auxiliary services but armed at the front line.

    Arms and the Woman: Just Warriors and Greek Feminist Identity 2008

  • The yellow birds/prediction analogy holds until ID can build a coherent theoretical framework that is grounded in auxiliary assumptions.

    A Dubious "Opportunity" for IDers 2007

  • The yellow birds/prediction analogy holds until ID can build a coherent theoretical framework that is grounded in auxiliary assumptions.

    A Dubious "Opportunity" for IDers 2007

  • I'm more interested, as Gregory is, to see if IDists can ground their "not junk!" prediction in auxiliary assumptions (the ToE has common descent) that make the prediction worth a damn.

    A Dubious "Opportunity" for IDers 2007

  • Though the terms auxiliary, suffragan, and coadjutor are used indiscriminately, yet there is a difference.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 2: Assizes-Browne 1840-1916 1913

  • [Page 77] collecting and arranging for the display of an exhibit which shall show to the best advantage, the material resources and varied fields of labor of the women of all nations, to the auxiliary is confided the important task of calling together a series of congresses during 1893, which shall not only demonstrate what woman has done in the lines of mental and spiritual work, and in the sunny field of letters, but the public discussion of practical subjects by trained thinkers will uplift the masses and open the way to a better understanding of many facts needful to the housekeeper, the educator and the philanthropist.

    Three Girls in a Flat Jean Yandell Loughborough 1892

  • Those tasks are sometimes done by Healthcare Assistants (old name auxiliary nurses) and/or cleaners.

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2007

  • Those tasks are sometimes done by Healthcare Assistants (old name auxiliary nurses) and/or cleaners.

    The retreat from Scutari 2007

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