Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount ofauthority,power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived from the Latin wordsecernere, "to distinguish" or "to set apart", the passive participle (secretum) meaning "having been set apart", with the eventual connotation of something private or confidential, as with the English wordsecret. Asecretarius was a person, therefore, overseeing business confidentially, usually for a powerful individual (a king, pope, etc.).
The official title of theleader of mostcommunist andsocialist political parties is the "General Secretary of the Central Committee" or "First Secretary of the Central Committee". When a communist party is in power, thegeneral secretary is usually the country'sde facto leader (though sometimes this leader also holds state-level positions to monopolize power, such as apresidency orpremiership in order to constitutede jure leadership of the state), such asChina,North Korea,Vietnam,Laos andCuba.[1]
In England, the termsecretarius was used "from the beginning of the thirteenth century in the varying meanings of a confidential clerk, an ambassador, or a member of the king's council".[2] In the fourteenth century, the title became strongly associated with the keeper of the king'ssignet.[2] From theRenaissance to the late 19th century, men involved in the daily correspondence and the activities of the powerful assumed the title of secretary. With time, like many titles, the term was applied to more and varied functions, leading to compound titles to specify the authority associated with its use, like general secretary orfinancial secretary.
In some countries, such as the United States, the termsecretary is used to indicate the holder of acabinet-level post. There are a number of popular variations of the title used to indicate that the secretary in question has a high degree of authority, such asgeneral secretary (or, following usage in theNorman language,secretary-general),first secretary, andexecutive secretary. A female holding such an office is often addressed informally as "madam secretary".
In aclub orsociety, the secretary is also considered to be, in most cases, the third person in charge of the organization, after the president/chairman and vice president/vice chairman.[3] In smaller organizations, the secretary typically takesmeeting minutes, notifies members of meetings, contacts various persons in relation to the society, administers the day-to-day activities of the organization, and creates the order of business. The secretary of anon-governmental organization orinternational non-governmental organization can combine the function with that of vice president/vice chairman.[3]
General secretary occurs as the title of aministerial position of authority found in various organizations, such astrade unions,communist andsocialist parties, andinternational non-governmental organizations. Examples include:
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General secretary orfirst secretary is the official title of leaders of mostCommunist political parties. When a Communist party is the ruling party in a Communist-ledone-party state, the general secretary is typically the country'sde facto leader. Examples include:
General secretary is the official title of leaders of mostDravidian political parties, that are politically influential inTamil Nadu of SouthernIndia. Examples include:
Examples include:
First secretary is the title of the chief officer or leader in many organizations, and is also a moderndiplomatic rank. Examples include:
Examples include:
Within some organizations, the role of secretary is combined with that oftreasurer, under the title of secretary-treasurer.[5]
"A lot of analysts now see it as a given" that Xi will seek to stayPartyGeneral Secretary, thecountry's most powerfulpost, said Christopher K. Johnson, a former CIA analyst and now China specialist at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
