auxiliary

/ɑgˈzɪljəri/

/ɔgˈzɪləri/

Other forms: auxiliaries

When you're offering something in support of an already existing thing, you're offering something auxiliary. The auxiliary police will help out the regular police with things like directing traffic and crowd control when there's a special event in town.

The Latin word auxilium means "help," and so auxiliary means something that "helps" by providing backup or support. Think of auxiliary verbs (sometimes called helper verbs), that provide support within a verb phrase, as "is" does in "Helen is playing." You can have an auxiliary engine in a car, an auxiliary cook at a restaurant, an auxiliary electrical network at a factory, or auxiliary troops standing by during battle. A "Ladies Auxiliary" functions as support for institutions such as churches, synagogues, or charities.

Definitions of auxiliary

1. adjective

   furnishing added support
   “The mind and emotions are auxiliary to each other”

   synonyms: accessory, adjunct, adjuvant, ancillary, appurtenant

   supportive

   furnishing support or assistance
2. adjective

   functioning in a supporting capacity
   “the main library and its auxiliary branches”

   synonyms: subsidiary, supplemental, supplementary

   secondary

   being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate
3. noun

   someone who acts as an assistant
   synonyms: aide

   types:

   nurse's aide, nursing aide

   someone who assists a nurse in tasks that require little formal training

   type of:

   assistant, help, helper, supporter

   a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
4. noun

   a soldier, especially a foreign soldier, who is not part of a nation’s regular army
   type of:

   soldier

   an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army