subsume

[ suhb-soom ]

verb (used with object)

, sub·sumed, sub·sum·ing.

1. to consider or include (an idea, term, proposition, etc.) as part of a more comprehensive one.
2. to bring (a case, instance, etc.) under a rule.
3. to take up into a more inclusive classification.

subsume

/ səbˈsjuːm /

verb

1. to incorporate (an idea, proposition, case, etc) under a comprehensive or inclusive classification or heading
2. to consider (an instance of something) as part of a general rule or principle

Derived Forms

• subˈsumable, adjective

Other Words From

• sub·sum·a·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of subsume¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Medieval Latin subsūmere, equivalent to Latin sub- “under, below, beneath”; + sūmere “to take”; sub-, consume

Word History and Origins

Origin of subsume¹

C16: from New Latin subsumere, from Latin sub- + sumere to take

Example Sentences

Not doing anything, researchers at Tufts University found, will allow costs to mount so much that they will subsume today’s Caribbean economies even without the shock of devastating storms.

From ProPublica

What’s more, my ordinary aches—tendinitis here, a stiff joint there, persistent ailments that irk me every day—had been subsumed by more acute pains.

From Outside Online

What Putin is saying is nothing less than imperialism, a desire to subsume a neighboring country that wants a better future into his own empire.

From Time

More the point, Instagram appears poised to prioritize Reels potentially to the point of subsuming its other video products.

From Digiday

The Future of TV Briefing this week looks at how TikTok has been subsumed into video makers’ approaches to other platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat and even YouTube.

From Digiday

Our deepest fear is that Mom will somehow subsume and destroy us, even as we depend on her for everything.

From The Daily Beast

I don't think ISIS will subsume itself to the Naqshabandi's.

From The Daily Beast

He may finally be ready to subsume his ego and ideology for the sake of his country.

From The Daily Beast

Netanyahu may finally be ready to subsume his ego and ideology for the sake of his country.

From The Daily Beast

Similarly the actions of animal life depend upon and subsume the laws of organic matter.

From Project Gutenberg

In the same way the actions of a self-conscious moral agent, such as man, depend upon and subsume the laws of animal life.

From Project Gutenberg

Hence the problem arises, 'How is it possible to subsume objects of empirical perception under pure conceptions?'

From Project Gutenberg

We are invited to subsume questions of law and of the application of law under the social ideal of the time and place.

From Project Gutenberg

In the next place I subsume a cognition under the condition of the rule (and this is the minor) by means of the judgement.

From Project Gutenberg