subaltern

adj
/ˈsʌb.əltən/UK/sʌbˈɔltəɹn/US

Etymology

From Middle French subalterne, from Late Latin subalternus, from Latin sub- + alternus, from alter.

  1. derived from sub-
  2. derived from subalternus
  3. derived from subalterne

Definitions

  1. Of a lower rank or position

    Of a lower rank or position; inferior or secondary; especially (military) ranking as a junior officer, below the rank of captain.

    • a subaltern officer
    • Two weeks after giving birth[…] she [Rachida Dati] was removed and offered no consolation prize other than the subaltern position of No 2 on the UMP's list for the next European elections.
    • Celebrating the subversive practices of subaltern groups
  2. Asserting only a part of what is asserted in a related proposition.

  3. A subordinate.

  4. + 3 more definitions
    1. A commissioned officer having a rank below that of captain

      A commissioned officer having a rank below that of captain; a lieutenant or second lieutenant.

      • She was an extraordinarily beautiful girl, Margaret Devereux ; and made all the men frantic by running away with a penniless young fellow ; a mere nobody sir a subaltern in a foot regiment, or something of that kind.
      • As a subaltern of 24, Neave was captured in the defence of Calais in May 1940.
    2. A subaltern proposition

      A subaltern proposition; a proposition implied by a universal proposition.

    3. A member of a group that is socially, politically and geographically outside of the…

      A member of a group that is socially, politically and geographically outside of the hegemonic power structure of the colony and of the colonial homeland.

      • In Ghosh's novel, a canonical western scientist is pitted against a counterscientific group of native folk-medicine practitioners led by Mangala, a subaltern in every conceivable meaning of the term.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for subaltern. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA