subaltern

[ suhb-awl-tern suhb-uhl-turn ]

adjective

1. lower in rank; subordinate:

   a subaltern employee.

2. British Military. noting a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.
3. Logic.
   1. 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.
   2. (in Aristotelian logic) denoting the relation of a particular proposition to a universal proposition having the same subject, predicate, and quality.
   3. of or relating to a proposition having either of these relations to another.

noun

1. a person who has a subordinate position.
2. British Military. a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.
3. Logic. a subaltern proposition.

subaltern

/ ˈsʌbəltən /

noun

1. a commissioned officer below the rank of captain in certain armies, esp the British
2. a person of inferior rank or position
3. logic
   1. the relation of one proposition to another when the first is implied by the second, esp the relation of a particular to a universal proposition
   2. ( as modifier )

      a subaltern relation

adjective

1. of inferior position or rank

Other Words From

• subal·terni·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of subaltern¹

1575–85; < Late Latin subalternus, equivalent to sub- sub- + alternus alternate

Word History and Origins

Origin of subaltern¹

C16: from Late Latin subalternus, from Latin sub- + alternus alternate, from alter the other

Example Sentences

She had enrolled as an honorary subaltern in early 1945, when she was 18.

From New York Times

He has done so especially among sections of the white middle-class, who have suffered the erosion of their buying power and watched as the black community refused to return to its historical subaltern position.

From The Guardian

She is shown as a young ATS second subaltern during the second world war in an image posted by the British Army.

From The Guardian

His life is a series of subaltern tasks.

From New York Times

He imagined that a call would come to him, a voice of Command, the voice of a subaltern of God, hashmarks running down his arm for a thousand miles.

From Literature