Meanings
secretary general1
nounsecretary general (plural secretaries general)
plural secretaries general
- Alternative letter-case form of Secretary General.
Secretary General2
nounSecretary General (plural Secretaries General)
plural Secretaries General · alternative secretary general · alternative secretary-general
- The chief administrator of an international body such as NATO or the United Nations.
- The secretary of a non-Communist political party, governmental entity, or other NGO in many countries.
Synonyms: First Secretary, General Secretary, SG
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe secretary of a non-Communist political party, governmental entity, or other NGO in many countries.
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Frenchsecrétaire général
- EnglishSecretary General
Calque of French secrétaire général, hence the unusual order of adjective following noun (i.e., postpositive).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أَمِين عَامّ
- أَمِين عَامّ (ʔamīn ʕāmm)chief administrator of an international body
Bengali মহাসচিব
- মহাসচিব (mohaśocibo)chief administrator of an international body
Bulgarian генера́лен секрета́р
- генера́лен секрета́р (generálen sekretár)chief administrator of an international body
Catalan secretari general
- secretari generalchief administrator of an international body
Chinese Mandarin 秘書長 /秘书长, 書記長 /书记长
- 秘書長 /秘书长 (mìshūzhǎng)chief administrator of an international body
- 書記長 /书记长 (shūjìcháng)chief administrator of an international body
Czech generální tajemník
- generální tajemníkchief administrator of an international body
Danish generalsekretær
- generalsekretærchief administrator of an international body
Dutch secretaris-generaal
- secretaris-generaalchief administrator of an international body
Finnish pääsihteeri
- pääsihteerichief administrator of an international body
French secrétaire général, premier secrétaire
- secrétaire généralchief administrator of an international body
- premier secrétairechief administrator of an international body
German Generalsekretär, Generalsekretärin
- Generalsekretärchief administrator of an international body
- Generalsekretärinchief administrator of an international body
Greek γενικός γραμματέας
- γενικός γραμματέας (genikós grammatéas)chief administrator of an international body
Hebrew מַזְכִּיר כְּלָלִי, מַזְכָּ״ל
- מַזְכִּיר כְּלָלִי (mazkír klalí)chief administrator of an international body
- מַזְכָּ״לchief administrator of an international body
Hindi महासचिव
- महासचिव (mahāsciv)chief administrator of an international body
Hungarian főtitkár
- főtitkárchief administrator of an international body
Icelandic aðalritari
- aðalritarichief administrator of an international body
Indonesian sekretaris jenderal
- sekretaris jenderalchief administrator of an international body
Irish Ard-Rúnaí
- Ard-Rúnaíchief administrator of an international body
Italian segretario generale
- segretario generalechief administrator of an international body
Japanese 総書記, 書記長
- 総書記 (sōshoki)chief administrator of an international body
- 書記長 (shokichō)chief administrator of an international body
- 事務総長 (jimu sōchō)chief administrator of an international body
Korean 사무총장, 서기장
- 사무총장 (samuchongjang)chief administrator of an international body
- 서기장 (seogijang)chief administrator of an international body
- 총비서 (chongbiseo)chief administrator of an international body
- 총서기 (chongseogi)chief administrator of an international body
Latvian ģenerālsekretārs
- ģenerālsekretārschief administrator of an international body
Lithuanian generalinis sekretorius
- generalinis sekretoriuschief administrator of an international body
Malay setiausaha agung
- setiausaha agungchief administrator of an international body
Norwegian Bokmål generalsekretær
- generalsekretærchief administrator of an international body
Polish sekretarz generalny
- sekretarz generalnychief administrator of an international body
Portuguese secretário-geral
- secretário-geralchief administrator of an international body
Romanian secretar general
- secretar generalchief administrator of an international body
Russian генера́льный секрета́рь, генсе́к
- генера́льный секрета́рь (generálʹnyj sekretárʹ)chief administrator of an international body
- генсе́к (gensék)chief administrator of an international body
Slovak generálny tajomník
- generálny tajomníkchief administrator of an international body
Swahili katibu mkuu
- katibu mkuuchief administrator of an international body
Swedish generalsekreterare
- generalsekreterarechief administrator of an international body
Thai เลขาธิการ
- เลขาธิการ (lee-kǎa-tí-gaan)chief administrator of an international body
Turkish genel sekreter
- genel sekreterchief administrator of an international body
Ukrainian генера́льний секрета́р, генсе́к
- генера́льний секрета́р (henerálʹnyj sekretár)chief administrator of an international body
- генсе́к (hensék)chief administrator of an international body
Urdu سَیکْرِٹْری جَنْرَل, جَنْرَل سَیکْرِٹْری
- سَیکْرِٹْری جَنْرَل (saikriṭrī janral)chief administrator of an international body
- جَنْرَل سَیکْرِٹْری (janral saikriṭrī)chief administrator of an international body
Vietnamese tổng thư kí
- tổng thư kíchief administrator of an international body
Welsh ysgrifennydd cyffredinol
- ysgrifennydd cyffredinolchief administrator of an international body
Cite this entry
APA
secretary general. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretary%20general
MLA
“secretary general.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretary%20general. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “secretary general,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretary%20general.
Source: secretary general on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.