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subaltern

 - 3 dictionary results

sub⋅al⋅tern

  [suhb-awl-tern or, especially for 3, 6, suhb-uhl-turn]
Use subaltern in a Sentence
–adjective
1. lower in rank; subordinate: a subaltern employee.
2. British Military. noting a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.
3. 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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To subaltern
sub·al·tern   (sŭb-ôl'tərn, sŭb'əl-tûrn')   
adj.  

  1. Lower in position or rank; secondary.

  2. Chiefly British Holding a military rank just below that of captain.

  3. Logic In the relation of a particular proposition to a universal with the same subject, predicate, and quality.

n.  

  1. A subordinate.

  2. Chiefly British A subaltern officer.

  3. 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).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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