subordinate

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Lower in rank, position, or importance than someone or something else.

   In the army, junior officers are subordinate to the generals.

2. 2
   verb

   To treat something as less important than something else.

   She subordinated her own plans to the needs of her family.

3. 3
   adj

   (of a clause) unable to stand alone as a complete sentence.

   In "She left before he arrived," the subordinate clause is "before he arrived."

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Subordinate combines the idea of being “below” with the Latin word family of ordo, “order,” so its underlying sense is “below in order or rank.” It entered English in the later medieval period.

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

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
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