Secretar

Secretar is a term used in several languages to denote a person who provides administrative and clerical support to individuals or organizations. Its etymology traces to the Latin secretarius, meaning keeper of secrets, and it has cognates in many languages, such as Romanian secretar, Spanish secretario, and German Sekretär. In governmental contexts the term can also refer to a position within a secretariat or to a staff member who supports a minister or department.

Typical duties include managing correspondence, scheduling appointments, filing and records management, data entry, document preparation, and coordinating meetings and travel. Roles vary by seniority: a general secretary works with routine tasks, while an executive secretary or personal secretary may supervise others, handle confidential information, and perform higher-level administrative work.

Contexts: secretaries work in offices, schools, hospitals, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. The term also names the body that supports a government office—the secretariat—which comprises administrators and assistants who organize workflows, policy notes, and communications.

Modern secretaries operate in a digital environment, using email, calendar software, word processing, and document management systems. The role emphasizes organizational, communicative, and confidentiality skills, and it has evolved from purely clerical labor to a professional administrative specialty.

See also: secretary, secretariat, executive assistant.