## Meanings
1. Lower in rank, position, or importance than someone or something else.
2. To treat something as less important than something else.
3. (of a clause) unable to stand alone as a complete sentence.

## Examples
- In the army, junior officers are subordinate to the generals.
- She subordinated her own plans to the needs of her family.
- In "She left before he arrived," the subordinate clause is "before he arrived."

## Related Forms
- inferior

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: subordinat
- Root: subōrdinātus

## Etymology
From Middle English subordinat, from Medieval Latin subōrdinātus, past participle of subōrdināre, from sub- + ōrdināre (“to order”).

## AI Etymology
Subordinate is from Middle English subordinat, from Medieval Latin subōrdinātus, past participle of subōrdināre, from sub- + ōrdināre (“to order”). In present-day use, it can mean lower in rank, position, or importance than someone or something else, or to treat something as less important than something else. Related vocabulary includes inferior.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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