Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Lower in position or rank; secondary.
- adj. Chiefly British Holding a military rank just below that of captain.
- adj. Logic In the relation of a particular proposition to a universal with the same subject, predicate, and quality.
- n. A subordinate.
- n. Chiefly British A subaltern officer.
- n. Logic A subaltern proposition.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having an inferior or subordinate position; subordinate; specifically (military), holding the rank of a junior officer usually below the rank of captain.
- n. A subaltern officer; a subordinate.
Wiktionary
- adj. Of a lower rank or position; inferior or secondary.
- n. a subordinate
- n. UK a commissioned officer having a rank below that of captain; a lieutenant or second lieutenant
- n. logic A subaltern proposition; a proposition implied by a universal proposition. For example, some crows are black is a subaltern of all crows are black.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Ranked or ranged below; subordinate; inferior; specifically (Mil.), ranking as a junior officer; being below the rank of captain.
- adj. (Logic) Asserting only a part of what is asserted in a related proposition.
- n. A person holding a subordinate position; specifically, a commissioned military officer below the rank of captain.
- n. (Logic) A subaltern proposition.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. inferior in rank or status
- n. a British commissioned army officer below the rank of captain
Etymologies
- From Late Latin subalternus, from Latin sub- + alternus, from alter. (Wiktionary)
- French subalterne, from Old French, from Late Latin subalternus : Latin sub-, sub- + Latin alternus, alternate (from alter, other; see al-1 in Indo-European roots). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The term subaltern suggests an interest in social class but more generally it is also a methodological orientation that opens up the study of logics of subordination.”
“I am sure (if you get newspapers in Ceylon) jump into your mind the moment I mention the word subaltern, and I may as well tell you that in associating me with any one of these deeds at the present time you are entirely wrong.”
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, November 7, 1917
“Now, there has been an enormous amount of ink spilled on the question of why the Latin American subaltern studies group split up -- no doubt more ink thank the group itself spilled while it existed.”
“Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1891, an untouchable in an India run by the British – that is to say a subaltern twice over, subjugated by an imperial government and by high-caste Indians.”
“When the authors of the previously mentioned books pen their own words through self-publication or through "ghetto" publishers, are they in a better position to speak a subaltern voice?”
“The subaltern was a lean young redhead from the north continent, his fair face spattered with gold freckles from the tropic sun.”
“A subaltern is a commissioned officer in the army, under the rank of captain.”
Chapter 4. American and English Today. 2. Differences in Usage
“Meantime the chief of police called his subaltern and placed in his hands the peculiar descriptions.”
“He was going down the hill with Rhullieres when I said to him, "Mon General, you expose yourself too much; that which is duty in a subaltern is a fault in a general.”
“His talk radio conservatism is tinged with the fanaticism of someone who comes from a "subaltern" group.”
Joseph A. Palermo: Neo-Confederacy Erupts with Governors' Rejection of Stimulus Money
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘subaltern’.
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EN - fine scholarly language
exhort, accretion, twenty-nine, atrophy, additive, brilliantly, interreligious, empiricism, pathologic, limitless, half-century, vigilant and 488 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Jesse's random
bathos, dragoman, tessellated, escutcheon, eikon, mondaine, basilisk, ciborium, rubric, machicolation, jet, defalcation and 198 more...
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phrontistery-s
from phrontistery.info
syzygy, systyle, systematology, systatic, syssitia, syrtic, systaltic, syrt, syrinx, syphilomania, syphilology, syntrierarch and 1593 more...
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sub- (suc-, suf-, etc.)
lower; somewhat; secondary; supporting
subalpine, subordinate, subconscious, subvention, sublet, subsistence, subsidize, sub, subacetate, subacid, subacidity, subacidness and 114 more...
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Specifically
Being a list of words which have "specifically" in their definitions.
recompose, specifically, Dutch, abstinence, discipline, virtue, namely, opening, century, amalgamation, cup, second and 303 more...
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HITCH 22
I love you Christopher Hitchens, but all your big words are making me feel dumb.
apotropaic, laconic, subaltern, tryptych, annals, conscript, flagellation, etiolate, caprice, servile, blithe, inoculate
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Just 'cause I like 'em, S
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inkhorn's Words
inkhorn, aplomb, apotheosis, asinine, avatar, bombastic, boorish, bromide, bucolic, cagey, canvass, digress and 991 more...
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new words!
errata, corrigenda, lacuna, inculcate, chiaroscuro, temerity, folderol, juggernaut, diadem, alacrity, exegesis, portmanteau and 97 more...
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Faves
nepenthe, cupidity, anodyne, obdurate, doleful, obsolescent, quale, piquant, velleity, inchoate, disport, facile and 366 more...
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bintalshamsa's list
My Favorite Words
weltschmerz, perspicacity, idée fixe, invigilator, salubrious, tchotchke, ex nihilo, invidious, malapropism, naïve, sardonic, elide and 1402 more...
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Infinite Jest
Words taken from Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
prorector, monograph, post-fourier, snuffle, rototremble, creatus, enfilade, subanimalistic, balletic, espadrilles, leonine, cirri and 1153 more...
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Words I will probably never use
décolleté, pendragon, amerce, viviparous, dragoon, brigand, outlaw, outlawry, lugubrious, boor, contretemps, decrepit and 151 more...
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elizacole's Words
isomorphic, endemic, tmesis, fillip, antedate, avoirdupois, jeremiad, hypnagogic, antediluvian, fuck, reification, raconteur and 251 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for subaltern.

dailyword One of these died in Watson's arms during the war in Afghanistan, and he claimed he saw his ghost when he was on leave in Constantinople. Feb 24, 2013