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. a commissioned officer having a rank just below that of Captain
- n. 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. 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. A subaltern proposition.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. inferior in rank or status
- n. a British commissioned army officer below the rank of captain
Etymologies
- 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).
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.”
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
“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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Jesse's random
bathos, dragoman, tessellated, escutcheon, eikon, mondaine, basilisk, ciborium, rubric, machicolation, jet, defalcation and 154 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 281 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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