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Literary notes about Ancillary (AI summary)

The word "ancillary" is often used to denote something secondary yet supportive to the main element in a text. In literary works, for instance, a subplot or a minor character might be described as ancillary, serving to enrich the central narrative without overwhelming it ([1], [2]). Similarly, legal and scholarly texts employ the term to refer to subordinate legislation or supplementary reasoning that underpins a primary argument ([3], [4]). Whether in the realm of philosophical discourse, where ancillary ideas are used to bolster major premises ([5], [6]), or in the depiction of supportive features within a poetic or narrative framework, "ancillary" consistently signifies a role that, though not essential on its own, contributes importantly to the whole ([7], [8]).
  1. The subplots and ancillary characters fill out the space requirements of a proper Victorian novel and are generally done well.
    — from The Way They Lived ThenSerious Interviews, Strong Women, and Lessons for Life in the Novels of Anthony Trollope by Taylor Prewitt
  2. This ancillary character of Iris is exactly what she would bear, if her origin really lay in the primitive tradition of the rainbow.
    — from Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 2 of 3 Olympus; or, the Religion of the Homeric Age by W. E. (William Ewart) Gladstone
  3. It is a mean justified by the end," and "a right ... ancillary to the greater right of capture."
    — from The Life of John Marshall, Volume 4: The building of the nation, 1815-1835 by Albert J. (Albert Jeremiah) Beveridge
  4. The power to maintain necessarily implies all ancillary powers of prevention and precaution, so that republican government may be assured.
    — from Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 18 (of 20) by Charles Sumner
  5. This was still the supreme study, and all else, properly viewed, was ancillary to it.
    — from The Mediaeval Mind (Volume 1 of 2) A History of the Development of Thought and Emotion in the Middle Ages by Henry Osborn Taylor
  6. There is a point of view, indeed, from which the economic interest is of weight only as being ancillary to these higher, non-economic interests.
    — from The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen
  7. We have here the recognition of the inspiration of the scribe, as ancillary to that of the prophet.
    — from Expositor's Bible: The Book of Jeremiah, Chapters XXI.-LII. by W. H. (William Henry) Bennett
  8. Nor is it easy to see how treaties can be consummated without their ancillary help.
    — from Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 08 (of 20) by Charles Sumner

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