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sub- . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
sub- , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
sub- in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
sub- you have here. The definition of the word
sub- will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
sub- , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Latin sub ( “ under ” ) . Doublet of hypo- .
Pronunciation
Prefix
sub-
Under , beneath .
Subsidiary , secondary .
Almost , nearly .
Usage notes
In Latin, the following sound changes affected "sub-" and cause English borrowings from Latin which contain this prefix to have different forms. Words formed in English using the prefix "sub-" do not exhibit these sound changes. (Combination with 's' involved elision and the other changes involved assimilation .)
sub + c = suc- (hence succession , from Latin successiō ; but e.g. subculture formed in English from sub- + culture )
sub + p = sup- (support , but subpage )
sub + c, p or t = sus- (susceptible , suspend , sustain , but subtitle )
sub + g = sug- (suggestion , but subgroup )
sub + r = sur- (surrogate , but subroutine )
sub + f = suf- (suffer , but subfield )
sub + s(p) = su- (suspect , suspire but subset , subspecies )
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
under, beneath
Armenian: ենթա- ( entʻa- ) , ստոր- ( stor- )
Breton: is- (br)
Catalan: sub- (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 亞 / 亚 (zh) ( yà ) , 子 (zh) ( zǐ )
Czech: sub- (cs) , pod-
Dutch: sub- (nl) , onder-
Finnish: ala- (fi) , ali- (fi)
French: sous- (fr) , sub- (fr)
Galician: sub- (gl)
German: unter- (de) , sub- (de)
Greek: υπο- (el) ( ypo- )
Hebrew: תַּת־ (he) ( tat- )
Hungarian: szub-
Ido: sub-
Italian: sotto- (it) , sub- (it)
Malay: sub- (ms)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: under-
Nynorsk: under-
Old English: under-
Persian: زیرـ ( zir- )
Portuguese: sub- (pt) , so- (pt)
Russian: под- (ru) ( pod- ) , суб- (ru) ( sub- )
Scottish Gaelic: fo- , frith-
Spanish: sub- (es)
Swedish: under- (sv)
Welsh: is-
References
Further reading
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin sub .
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Derived terms
Further reading
“sub- ”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies , 2007 April
“sub- ”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana , Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana , 2025.
“sub-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià , Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua .
“sub-” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear , Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Czech
Pronunciation
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Synonym: pod-
sub- + optimální → suboptimální
Derived terms
Further reading
Danish
Etymology
From Latin sub .
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Derived terms
References
Dutch
Pronunciation
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Derived terms
French
Etymology
From Latin sub- .
Pronunciation
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Derived terms
Galician
Etymology
From Latin sub .
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Derived terms
From
.
Further reading
German
Etymology
Ultimately from Latin sub ( “ under ” ) .
Pronunciation
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Derived terms
Italian
sud- ( before a letter "d" )
sum- ( before a letter "m" )
Etymology
From Latin sub- .
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Derived terms
Latin
Etymology
From sub ( “ under, beneath, below ” ) .
Prefix
sub-
under , sub-
Attached to verbs , may denote the position or direction of an action
sub- ( “ under, below ” ) + scrībō ( “ write ” ) → subscrībō ( “ to write underneath, to write below ” )
In compounds , may stand for sub in a prepositional phrase
sub- ( “ under ” ) + terra ( “ earth ” ) + -āneus ( adjective-forming suffix ) → subterrāneus ( “ subterranean, underground ” )
sub- ( “ under ” ) + lūna ( “ moon ” ) + -āris ( adjective-forming suffix ) → sublūnāris ( “ sublunar, sublunary ” )
Attached to adjectives , creates new adjectives of lesser intensity, having a sense like "somewhat", "slightly", "rather", "-ish"
sub- ( “ somewhat ” ) + amārus ( “ bitter ” ) → subamārus ( “ somewhat bitter, bitterish ” )
Derived terms
Polish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin sub- .
Pronunciation
Prefix
sub-
sub- ( under, beneath )
Synonym: pod-
sub- ( subsidiary, secondary )
Synonym: pod-
sub- ( almost, nearly )
Synonym: pod-
Derived terms
Further reading
sub- in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
From Latin sub- . Doublet of so- .
Pronunciation
Prefix
sub-
sub- ( under, beneath )
Synonym: so-
sub- ( subsidiary, secondary )
Derived terms
Romanian
Etymology
See sub , from Latin sub .
Pronunciation
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Derived terms
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin sub- .
Prefix
sub-
sub-
Synonym: so-
Derived terms
Further reading