Placed in a lower order, class, or rank; holding a lower or inferior position. [1913 Webster]
"The several kinds and subordinate species of each are easily distinguished." [1913 Webster]
Inferior in order, nature, dignity, power, importance, or the like. [1913 Webster]
"It was subordinate, not enslaved, to the understanding." [1913 Webster]

Subordinate, n.

One who stands in order or rank below another; -- distinguished from a principal. Milton. [1913 Webster]

Subordinate, v. t.

To place in a lower order or class; to make or consider as of less value or importance; as, to subordinate one creature to another. [1913 Webster]
To make subject; to subject or subdue; as, to subordinate the passions to reason. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

Subordinate, adj., n., & v.
--adj. (usu. foll. by to) of inferior importance or rank; secondary, subservient.
--n. a person working under another's control or orders.
--v.tr. (usu. foll. by to)
1 make subordinate; treat or regard as of minor importance.
2 make subservient.

Idiom

subordinate clause a clause serving as an adjective, adverb, or noun in a main sentence because of its position or a preceding conjunction.

Derivative

subordinately adv. subordination n. subordinative adj.

Etymology

med.L subordinare, subordinat- (as SUB-, L ordinare ordain)

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THESAURUS

Subordinate

accessory, adjuvant, aide, assistant, assort, auxiliary, below, beneath, bolt, categorize, classify, client, cog, collate, collateral, common, commonality, commonalty, contributory, creature, demeaning, dependent, deprive of freedom, disadvantaged, disenfranchise, disfranchise, divide, dominate, employee, enslave, enthrall, feudal, feudatory, flunky, follower, gradate, grade, group, hanger-on, helper, hireling, hoi polloi, hold captive, hold down, hold in bondage, hold in captivity, hold in leash, hold in subjection, homager, humble, in the shade, inferior, infra dig, junior, keep down, keep under, lackey, lead captive, less, lesser, liege, liege man, lightweight, low, lower, lower class, lower orders, lowly, make dependent, masses, minion, minor, modest, myrmidon, next to, ordinary, pawn, peon, peonize, poor relation, rank, retainer, riddle, right-hand man, satellite, screen, scrub, second fiddle, second rank, second string, secondary, separate, serf, servant, servile, sieve, sift, size, slave, sort, sort out, staffer, stooge, sub, subaltern, subject, subjugate, subordinate to, subservient, subsidiary, supplementary, take captive, third rank, third string, third stringer, tributary, under, underling, underprivileged, understrapper, vassal, vassalize, vulgar, yeoman, yes-man

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ROGET THESAURUS

Subordinate

Unimportance

N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

Inferiority

N inferiority, minority, subordinacy, shortcoming, deficiency, minimum, smallness, imperfection, lower quality, lower worth, commonalty, inferior, smaller, small, minor, less, lesser, deficient, minus, lower, subordinate, secondary, secondrate, sub, subaltern, thrown into the shade, weighed in the balance and found wanting, not fit to hold a candle to, can't hold a candle to, least, smallest &c (little) (small), lowest, diminished, reduced, unimportant, less, under the mark, below the mark, below par, at the bottom of the scale, at a low ebb, at a disadvantage, short of, under.

Subjection

N subjection, dependence, dependency, subordination, thrall, thralldom, thraldom, enthrallment, subjugation, bondage, serfdom, feudalism, feudality, vassalage, villenage, slavery, enslavement, involuntary servitude, conquest, service, servitude, servitorship, tendence, employ, tutelage, clientship, liability, constraint, oppression, yoke, submission, obedience, subject, dependent, subordinate, feudal, feudatory, in subjection to, under control, in leading strings, in harness, subjected, enslaved, constrained, downtrodden, overborne, overwhelmed, under the lash, on the hip, led by the nose, henpecked, the puppet of, the sport of, the plaything of, under one's orders, under one's command, under one's thumb, a slave to, at the mercy of, in the power of, in the hands of, in the clutches of, at the feet of, at one's beck and call, liable, parasitical, stipendiary, under, slaves - in a land of light and law.

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