subordinate
/səˈbɔɹdɪnət/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.45 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Placed in a lower class, rank, or position.
adj
Submissive or inferior to, or controlled by authority.
adj
dependent on and either modifying or complementing the main clause
adj
Descending in a regular series.
noun
One who is subordinate.
Countable
noun
A hyponym.
Example Sentences
- "The several kinds […] and subordinate species of each are easily known."
- "November 9, 1662, Robert South, Of the Creation of Man in the Image of God It was subordinate, not enslaved, to the understanding."
- "However, his main point is clearly that the political organization should be subordinate to the real aspirations of the working class and should not be allowed to claim that it expresses those aspirations by virtue of its own 'scientific' omniscience, regardless of what the empirical 'masses' actually think."
- "In the sentence “The barbecue finished before John arrived”, the subordinate clause “before John arrived” specifies the time of the main clause, “The barbecue finished”."
Etymology
From Middle English subordinat, from Medieval Latin subōrdinātus, past participle of subōrdināre, from sub- + ōrdināre (“to order”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: subordinat, subōrdinātus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /səˈbɔɹdɪnət/
- British English: /səˈbɔːdɪnət/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more subordinate (comparative)
most subordinate (superlative)
subordinates (plural)
subordinates (present, singular)
subordinating (participle, present)
subordinated (participle, past)
subordinated (past)