ancillary

views updated Jun 11 2018

an·cil·lar·y / ˈansəˌlerē/ • adj. providing necessary support to the primary activities or operation of an organization, institution, industry, or system: the development of ancillary services to support its products. ∎  additional; subsidiary: paragraph 19 was merely ancillary to paragraph 16.• n. (pl. -laries) a person whose work provides necessary support to the primary activities of an organization, institution, or industry: specialist teachers and ancillaries. ∎  something that functions in a supplementary or supporting role: undergraduate courses of three main subjects with related ancillaries.ORIGIN: mid 17th cent.: from Latin ancillaris, from ancilla ‘maidservant.’

Ancillary

views updated May 29 2018

ANCILLARY

Subordinate; aiding. A legal proceeding that is not the primary dispute but which aids the judgment rendered in or the outcome of the main action. A descriptive term that denotes a legal claim, theexistence of which is dependent upon or reasonably linked to a main claim.

For example, a plaintiff wins a judgment for a specified sum of money against a defendant in a negligence action. The defendant refuses to pay the judgment. The plaintiff begins another proceeding for a writ of attachment so that the judgment will be satisfied by the sale of the defendant's property seized under the writ. The attachment proceeding is ancillary, or subordinate, to the negligence suit. An ancillary proceeding is sometimes called an ancillary suit or bill.

A claim for alimony is an ancillary claim dependent upon the primary claim that there are sufficient legal grounds for a court to grant a divorce.

ancillary

views updated Jun 08 2018

ancillary XVII. — L. ancillāris, f. ancilla handmaid; see -ARY.