Subordinate

How to spell subordinate

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce subordinate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does subordinate mean?

1. adjectiveLower in rank or position, or a person who works under the authority of another.
2. verbTo treat or regard as less important, or to place under the authority of something else.

Subordinate in a sentence

• adjective

  The manager delegated the report to a subordinate on her team.

• verb

  The company tends to subordinate long-term planning to quarterly profit.

• adjective

  His role was clearly subordinate to that of the director.

• verb

  Good editors subordinate their own style to the author's voice.

Where does subordinate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin subordinatus, which combines sub-, meaning 'under' or 'below', with ordinare, meaning 'to arrange in order' or 'to set in rank'. The verb ordinare grew out of the noun ordo, which meant 'order, rank, or series', the same root that gives English 'order', 'ordinary', and 'ordain'. The literal idea was therefore 'placed under in rank', a person or thing positioned below another in a hierarchy. English took the word up in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, first in the sense of being lower in importance or authority. The spelling preserves the buried 'ordin' core, which is the useful memory hook: think of an 'order' placed under (sub), and the otherwise easily missed second letter 'o' and the unstressed middle 'i' fall into place.

How the word is built

• sub- (under)
• ordin- (from Latin ordo: order, rank)
• -ate (suffix forming adjective/noun/verb)