'Second' is Latin for 'the follower' — from 'sequi' (to follow). The time unit means 'second small division.'
Coming after the first in time or order; a sixtieth of a minute of time; to formally support a proposal or nomination.
From Latin 'secundus' (following, next, second in order, favorable), from 'sequī' (to follow). The PIE root is *sekʷ- (to follow), which generates a vast word family: Latin 'sequī' → 'sequel,' 'sequence,' 'consequence,' 'subsequent'; Latin 'socius' (companion, one who follows) → 'social,' 'society,' 'associate'; Greek 'hepesthai' (to follow). 'Second' as a unit of time is a Latin ellipsis: 'secunda minuta' (the second small division) — after minutes divided the hour into 60, seconds divided each minute into 60 again. 'Second' as a
The time unit 'second' comes from the medieval practice of dividing an hour in two stages. The first division (prima minūta, 'first small part') gave us the minute. The second division (secunda minūta, 'second small part') gave us the second — literally the second cut of the hour. Before mechanical clocks, seconds had no practical use; they became meaningful only when clock mechanisms could actually measure such short intervals.
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