Word of the Week: ancillary (ĂN-sə-lĕr-ē)

Definition

(Adjective) Designating activities and services that provide essential support to the functioning of a central service or industry; also, of staff employed in these supporting roles. Now used especially of non-medical staff and services in hospitals.

In Context

“Rather than taking an ancillary, paramedical position, these individuals are becoming directly and independently responsible for a broad range of health care functions, including prevention, assessment, therapy and rehabilitation.”

Stephen Polgar and Shane A. Thomas, Introduction to Research in the Health Sciences, Fifth Edition, 2008.