second [ME] This comes from Latin secundus ‘following, second’, from sequi ‘to follow’, which gives its base sense. The time word [LME] is from medieval Latin secunda (minuta) ‘second (*minute)’, referring to the ‘second’ operation of dividing an hour by 60. The verb [L16th] goes back to Latin secundus ‘following’, also the source of the Middle English adjective. Sect [ME], originally ‘a following’ is also from sequi, as is persecute [LME] ‘to follow with hostility’, and *sequel.