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Synonyms

inferior, junior, lesser, low, lower, minor-league, petty, secondary, small, subordinate, under, underling

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Subaltern - 6 dictionary results

sub·al·tern

[suhb-awl-tern or, esp. for 3, 6, suhb-uh

l-turn] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	lower in rank; subordinate: a subaltern employee.

2.	British Military. noting a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.

Logic.

a.	denoting the relation of one proposition to another when the first proposition is implied by the second but the second is not implied by the first.

b.	(in Aristotelian logic) denoting the relation of a particular proposition to a universal proposition having the same subject, predicate, and quality.

c.	of or pertaining to a proposition having either of these relations to another.

–noun

4.	a person who has a subordinate position.

5.	British Military. a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.

6.	Logic. a subaltern proposition.

[Origin: 1575–85; < LL subalternus, equiv. to sub- sub- + alternus alternate

]

—Related forms

sub·al·ter·ni·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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sub·al·tern (sŭb-ôl'tərn, sŭb'əl-tûrn') Pronunciation Key
adj.

Lower in position or rank; secondary.
Chiefly British Holding a military rank just below that of captain.
Logic In the relation of a particular proposition to a universal with the same subject, predicate, and quality.

A subordinate.
Chiefly British A subaltern officer.
Logic A subaltern proposition.

[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).]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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subaltern

"subordinate," c.1400 (implied in subalternal), from M.Fr. subalterne, from L.L. subalternus, from L. sub "under" + alternus "every other (one), one after the other" (see alternate). The noun meaning "person of inferior rank" is attested from 1605; as the designation of an army officer, from 1690.

subaltern
adjective
1.	inferior in rank or status; "the junior faculty"; "a lowly corporal"; "petty officialdom"; "a subordinate functionary" [syn: junior-grade]
noun
1.	a British commissioned army officer below the rank of captain

Subaltern

Sub*al"tern\, a. [F. subalterne, LL. subalternus, fr. L. sub under + alter the one, the other of two. See Alter.]

1. Ranked or ranged below; subordinate; inferior; specifically (Mil.), ranking as a junior officer; being below the rank of captain; as, a subaltern officer.

2. (Logic) Asserting only a part of what is asserted in a related proposition.

Subaltern genus. (Logic) See under Genus.

Subaltern

Sub*al"tern\, n. 1. A person holding a subordinate position; specifically, a commissioned military officer below the rank of captain.

2. (Logic) A subaltern proposition. --Whately.