ardim-
一、国外的定义
1．西方发达国家的定义。国际职业秘书组织（英文全称：professional secretaries international）是以欧美等发达国家为主的跨国秘书组织，它给秘书所下的定义是："具有熟练的办公室工作能力，不需上级敦促即能主动负责、积极进取、干练果断、能在授权范围作正确决定的经理助手。
2．原苏联的定义。认为："秘书是一项普通的职业，其职能主要为机关提供称作秘书的辅助性、事务性和信息性的服务。"这主要指机关秘书，因为私人秘书不是主体，它强调的是全面辅助领导与为领导服务的秘书职能。这个定义较接近我国的情况。
3．日本的定义。日本学者认为秘书是"帮助与处理各种事务的工作人员"；还有通俗的说法："秘书是全能运动员"。这突出表明了秘书的工作范围是随着领导人的工作范围而变化的，"赋予性"强，是很难明确界定的，同时也强调了秘书为领导人服务的"直接性"。日本社会具有东西交融的特点，它对秘书必须绝对忠于领导的要求特别强烈。
以上国外定义的共性：（1）秘书是一种社会职业，而不仅是一种官职名称；（2）秘书主要是为领导服务的人员。不管要求与权限有何不同，前一点与我国的现状是有差异的，在我国秘书主要地还是一种职务名称，而没有完全社会职业化；后一点则是古今中外秘书的共性，即一切秘书都是为其领导人服务的助手，没有领导就没有秘书，正是领导人的需求，导致了秘书工作的产生与秘书的诞生。
二、我国对秘书定义的各种说法
我国自80年代以来，对秘书的定义进行了探讨，并有所进展，各家界说多种多样：
1．1979年《辞海》秘书词条写道：秘书是"职务的名称之一，是领导的助手。秘书工作是一项机要性的工作，它的任务是收发文件、办理文书、档案和领导交办的事项，各机关和企业、事业单位，一般均设有秘书工作部门或秘书工作人员。"
2．1982年毛含德教授在《秘书学概论》（内部版）中说："秘书是一种职务的名称……是在国家政权单位、事业和企业单位中，协助领导综合情况，研究方针政策，密切各方面的关系，办理文书、档案、人民群众来信及其他日常行政事务的人员，也是一种职称。" 提出了研究政策问题是正确的，但"职称"只是一种设想。
3．1983年张金安、常崇宜在《秘书学概论》中认为："秘书是一种职务、也应当是一种职称"，"是领导的耳目、助手和参谋。" 当时"信息"一词尚未流行，"耳目"实际上指这个意思；另外这是第一次明确提出了"参谋"问题。但"职称"之说是不确的。
4．1986年张家仪在《秘书》杂志上撰文认为："秘书是身处领导机构或附着个人，撰制掌管文书，辅助决策，并处理日常事务的服务人员。"并认为"秘书从事的工作也就是秘书职业，秘书职业也就是服务性的，所以秘书决不是一种职务而是一种职业。"
上述秘书的"近身"特点（即"身处领导机构"）是1985年底李欣在武汉提出的；辅助性是上海楼宇生强调的秘书的本质属性；社会职业化是常崇宜1983年在《秘书学概论》中提出的。张家仪概括较好，反映了秘书学研究的深度。但"附着个人"的提法不准确，讲"秘书决不是一种职务"也嫌绝对化。
5．1987年常崇宜在《现代秘书工作》一书中认为，"秘书是一种职务名称，也是一种社会职业。是领导机关首脑或特定领导人员的助手。各种秘书的具体助手作用各不相同，但都是通过辅助领导，直接为领导服务去体现为人民服务、为社会主义服务的。"
这是试图对公务与私人秘书、各行业、层次、工种秘书作出的广义定义，其中的"特定领导人员"包括了私人秘书的领导者，正由于是广义，文字概括不精练。
6．1987年刘祖遂、王守福在《通用秘书学》中认为："秘书是社会职务的名称之一，是为领导中枢和领导者提供综合性、辅助性服务的公务人员。" 这里明确指出"公务人员"，是一种狭义的定义。
7．1989年董继超在《公务秘书学》中认为；"所谓秘书，就是掌管文书并直接辅助上司全面处理事务的人员。" 这里用了"所谓"二字，并沿用了论述秘书活动方式的办法，以及强调了"事务"而未提"参谋"，反映了定义的难度。
此外，笔者所见到的我国秘书界著名学者李欣、王千弓、翁世荣等在他们的论著中，都没有直接探讨定义问题。1990年袁维园主编的《秘书学》也只讲到秘书"是广泛的社会职业之一"，是"一种行政职务"。
归纳起来，各家说法中涉及的有四个问题：（l）我国秘书是一种职务名称，还是一种社会职业，或者二者兼有？（2）我国秘书的主要职能作用是助手，还是参谋，或者二者兼有，又如何准确表达？（3）对秘书下定义时应主指狭义的办公厅室中的秘书，还是应包括广义的如研究室、信访局、保密局、档案局等与办公厅室独立平行的机构、甚至业务科室中从事秘书工作的人员？（4）私人秘书的情况很不相同，但数量正在扩大，要不要包括进去？
三、初步的结论
l．广义秘书的概念；"秘书是领导人的事务与信息助手。"这里的广义，包括了公务秘书、私人秘书，又包括了各行业、层次、工种；领导人既含单数，又含复数--领导集体；因此只能是简明、抽象的概括。
2．狭义秘书的概念。"秘书是一种职务名称，正在成为一种社会职业，指处于领导近身，直接为领导从事事务性、信息性的辅助服务的工作助手。"这里着重排除了私人秘书。
广义与狭义内涵相通，又有差异。主要强调了秘书是领导近身的直接助手，是直接为领导服务的人员这一含义。这个"助手"包括了智力性的助手在内，从而也反映了现阶段我国要求秘书部门发挥"参谋作用"的现实。
LuckySXyd-
"秘书"这个词来源于保密者。指那些被国王和王后雇佣来保守国家和私人秘密的人.
今天cretary第一个字母S大写的时候，意为部长或大臣，这是政府部门的高级官员
Secretary of State 在英国是指（主管政府一部门的）国务大臣，在美国则指国务卿。
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs意为外相
The Secretary of State for Home Affairs 则是内政大臣
Chief Cabinet Secretary 日本的"内阁官房长官"
沙特的石油部长、印度的外交部常务副部长等。
资产阶级革命后，秘书职位主要承担的是辅助性管理这一内涵开始得到社会的认可和接受。另外，国外私人秘书的发展历史也相当悠久。
贵族成员多喜欢雇佣私人秘书为他们处理信笺、账目和邀请函等。商人也有秘书，他们通常被叫做"办事员"。如英国著名的政治学家和哲学家约翰·洛克就曾长期担任著名领袖人物的私人秘书。16世纪英国的著名诗人约翰·邓恩也曾是掌玺大臣的私人秘书。
总之，在秘书职业社会化以前，秘书主要指在政府部门中担任高级官员的人或为政府部门及高级官员提供辅助服务的公职人员，因此，我们将这一时期成为秘书官职化时代。
英文Secretary出现了另一个重要含义 ,秘书作为一种社会职业，开始确立。
第一个字母S小写的时候，就泛指受雇佣在办公室中从事处理信函、保管档案、安排业务等普通意义上的秘书工作人员
马老四-
应该是这样。秘书的秘，明显的是指‘秘密"，也就是secretary 的secret。Secretary 指的是人，秘密处理事务的人（犹如 signature, 签名； signatory, 签名人）。
其实，secretary 源自于拉丁文动词‘secernere",被动词是‘secretum",意思是已被隔离，带有私人的，机密的含义。而‘secretarius"是指个人，秘密地为国王或高官处理公务。
西柚不是西游-
"秘书"这个词来源于保密者。
指那些被国王和王后雇佣来保守国家和私人秘密的人.
今天cretary第一个字母S大写的时候，意为部长或大臣，这是政府部门的高级官员
Secretary of State 在英国是指（主管政府一部门的）国务大臣，在美国则指国务卿。
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs意为外相
The Secretary of State for Home Affairs 则是内政大臣
Chief Cabinet Secretary 日本的"内阁官房长官"
沙特的石油部长、印度的外交部常务副部长等。
后来英文Secretary出现了另一个重要含义 ,秘书作为一种社会职业，开始确立。
第一个字母S小写的时候，就泛指受雇佣在办公室中从事处理信函、保管档案、安排业务等普通意义上的秘书工作人员
英英字典的解释有：a person who handles correspondence, keeps records, and does general clerical work for an individual, organization, etc
the official manager of the day-to-day business of a society or board
(in Britain) a senior civil servant who assists a government minister
(in the US and New Zealand) the head of a government administrative department
(in Britain) See secretary of state
(in Australia) the head of a public service department
the assistant to an ambassador or diplomatic minister of certain countries
another name for secretaire
豆豆staR-
这个词最早来自拉丁语se‘tus，意思是“秘密的”，后来演变成中古拉丁语se‘tarius，意思是"心腹官员"，再到今天的secretary。"秘书"当然与"秘密"有关，因为他/她要处理管理层或者官员的日常事务和重要资料，自然可以了解许多机密信息。
再也不做稀饭了-
英语 秘书 这个词 来自 古拉丁语 的心腹官员，公务员这个词
还有 古拉丁语的 tus 秘密的意思
就是 掌管 秘密的心腹官员
就是今天英语的 秘书 的由来
苏州马小云-
A secretary is either an administrative assistant in business office administration, or a certain type of mid- or high-level governmental position, such as a Secretary of State.
The office title refers to a person who performs administrative, or personal tasks for a superior. The executive secretary (sometimes called administrative associate) is responsible for a myriad of responsibilities. Originally when there were only typewriters the secretary spent much of the time typing handwritten documents into typed form and xeroxing. Today with computers the amount of time doing word processing has been significantly reduced.
As a result the executive secretary or assistant today has a myriad of administrative duties. Often times this might include managing budgets and doing bookkeeping. They might manage all the administrative details of running a high level conference. They need to have skills to update and maintain web sites. Oftentimes executives will ask their assistant to write original documents for review and also to collaborate with others. They manage simple to highly complex travel arrangements. They may also do personnel paperwork which used to be thought of as a Human Relations function; this might also include understanding the complex rules regarding Visa and Immigration. To be an executive secretary today a good understanding of the computer is important. A large part of the day may be in writing and responding to email communications. There is also phone communications. The executive assistant also arranges for catering for a diverse workplace. To be successful today the executive assistant must have a broad level of skills and be creative in managing new situations. As such a 4 year degree (Bachelors of Arts) is often preferred and a 2 year degree is a requirement.
While the complexity of assignments have significantly increased Human Resource Departments have been slow in addressing the salary. As such one might find someone who is called a web maintainer paid more than an executive assistant who does much more. This in part is due to past understanding of what the executive assistant or administrative associate did. Slowly - more slowly than should be - the salary curve for executive assistants and administrative associates will be addressed.
The current salary curve for this position [1]
The governmental title usually refers to a department-head type of position, though positions such as that of the United Nations Secretary-General may also describe the leader of an organisation. EtymologyThe term is derived from the [Latin] word secernere, "to distinguish" or "to set apart," the passive participle (secretum) meaning "having been set apart," with the eventual connotation of something private or confidential. A secretarius was a person, therefore, overseeing business confidentially, usually for a powerful individual (a king, pope, etc). Office secretaryOrigins
Since the Renaissance until the late 19th century, men involved in the daily correspondence and the activities of the mighty had assumed the title of secretary (or in other cases, "clerk").
With time, like many titles, the term was applied to more and varied functions, leading to compound titles to specify various secretarial work better, like general secretary, financial secretary or Secretary of state. Just "secretary" remained in use either as an abbreviation when clear in the context or for relatively modest positions such as administrative assistant of the officer(s) in charge, either individually or as member of a secretariat. As such less influential posts became more feminine and common with the multiplication of bureaucracies in the public and private sectors, new words were also coined to describe them, such as personal assistant.
Modern developments
In the 1880s, with the invention of the typewriter, more women began to enter the field, and since World War I, the role of secretary has been primarily associated with women. By the 1930s, fewer men were entering the field of secretaries.
In an effort to promote professionalism amongst United States secretaries, the National Secretaries Association was created in 1942. Today, this organization is known as the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) The organization developed the first standardized test for office workers called the Certified Professional Secretaries Examination (CPS). It was first administered in 1951.
In 1952, Mary Barrett, president of the National Secretaries Association, C. King Woodbridge, president of Dictaphone Corporation, and American businessman Harry F. Klemfuss created a special Secretary"s Day holiday, to recognize the hard work of the staff in the office. The holiday caught on, and during the fourth week of April is now celebrated in offices all over the world. It has been renamed "Administrative Professional"s Week" to highlight the increased responsibility of today"s secretary and other administrative workers, and to avoid embarrassment to those who out of political correctness believe that "secretary" refers only to women or to unskilled workers.
Contemporary employment
In a business many job descriptions overlap. However, while administrative assistant is a generic term, not necessarily implying directly working for a superior, a secretary is usually a personal assistant to a manager or executive. Other titles describing jobs similar to or overlapping those of the traditional secretary are office coordinator, executive assistant, office manager and administrative professional.
At the most basic level a secretary may need only a good command of the prevailing office language and the ability to type, and may spend a large part of his or her time filing and fetching papers (or the equivalent regarding electronic files and database information) or answering telephones.
A more skilled executive assistant may be required to type at high speeds using technical or foreign languages, organise diaries, itineraries and meetings and carry out administrative duties which may include accountancy. An executive secretary / assistant may also control access to a manager, thus becoming an influential and trusted aide. Executive assistants are available for contact during off hours by new electronic communication methods for consultations.
The largest difference between a generalized secretary and skilled executive assistants is that the executive assistant is required to be able to interact extensively with the general public, vendors, customers, and any other person or group that the executive is responsible to interact with. As the level that the executive interacts with increases so does the level of skill required in the executive assistant that works with the executive. Those executive assistants that work with corporate officers must be capable of emulating the style, corporate philosophy, and corporate persona of the executive for which they work. In the modern workplace the advancement of the executives assistant is codependant on the success of the executive and the ability of both to make the job performance of the team seamless whereas the job place evaluation is reflective of each others performance.
Executive assistants are normally required to maintain job skills at the current state of the art. It is a normal requirement of the executive assistant to be required to complete continuing job education on their own time, with reimbursement for tuition and class supplies.
In popular culture
The secretary is also an often-used stereotype in fiction and media, usually as a dramaturgical tool (to introduce new scenes, situations or people via a short conversation with the superior). REFERENCE
SABINO, Rosimeri Ferraz; ROCHA, Fabio, Gomes. Secretariado: do escriba ao webwriter (portuguese) Rio de Janeiro: Brasport, 2004. (Brazil)
CarieVinne-
是的
和机密有关
真可-
它的词根是SECRET"秘密".后缀为-ARY表示名词.
秘书,当然会接触到一些诸如商业机密之类的秘密.
苏萦-
secret是秘密的意思，ary很多词的后缀。比如说limitary，boundary。没有特别的 含义。 秘书这个翻译可能就是这么来的吧。
snjk-
secret 是秘密的意思,那么能在工作中为老板保密的人就是保密的人,所以加上-ary的后缀(-ary的后缀加上后通常是使词根变成一类人)
wpBeta-
是的，secretary的词根是secret（秘密）
meira-
大概是吧。