inferior

English

Alternative forms

• inferiour (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower, inferior”), the comparative of īnferus (“low, nether, underground”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭnfîrēər, (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɪ(ə)ɹiɚ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɪəɹɪə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəriə(r)

Adjective

inferior (comparative more inferior, superlative most inferior)

1. of lower quality

   Anna had always felt inferior to her brother due to poor school grades.

   • (Can we date this quote by Dryden and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)

     Whether they are equal or inferior to my other poems, an author is the most improper judge.

2. of lower rank

   an inferior officer

3. located below
   1. (typography) Printed in subscript.

      an inferior figure or letter

4. (botany) Situated below some other organ; said of a calyx when free from the ovary, and therefore below it, or of an ovary with an adherent and therefore inferior calyx.
5. (botany) On the side of a flower which is next to the bract; anterior.
6. (astronomy) Nearer to the Sun than the Earth is.

   the inferior or interior planets; an inferior conjunction of Mercury or Venus

7. (astronomy) Below the horizon.

   the inferior part of a meridian

Usage notes

Inferior and superior are generally followed by to; than is seen sometimes, but is viewed as wrong.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:bad

Antonyms

• superior

Coordinate terms

• (dentistry location adjectives) anterior,‎ apical,‎ apicocoronal,‎ axial,‎ buccal,‎ buccoapical,‎ buccocervical,‎ buccogingival,‎ buccolabial,‎ buccolingual,‎ bucco-occlusal,‎ buccopalatal,‎ cervical,‎ coronal,‎ coronoapical,‎ distal,‎ distoapical,‎ distobuccal,‎ distocervical,‎ distocoronal,‎ distofacial,‎ distogingival,‎ distoincisal,‎ distolingual,‎ disto-occlusal,‎ distoclusal,‎ distocclusal,‎ distopalatal,‎ facial,‎ gingival,‎ incisal,‎ inferior,‎ labial,‎ lingual,‎ linguobuccal,‎ linguo-occlusal,‎ mandibular,‎ maxillary,‎ mesial,‎ mesioapical,‎ mesiobuccal,‎ mesiocervical,‎ mesiocoronal,‎ mesiodistal,‎ mesiofacial,‎ mesioincisal,‎ mesiogingival,‎ mesiolingual,‎ mesio-occlusal,‎ mesioclusal,‎ mesiocclusal,‎ mesiopalatal,‎ occlusal,‎ palatal,‎ posterior,‎ proximal,‎ superior,‎ vestibular ^{(Category: en:Dentistry) [edit]}

Related terms

• inferiority

Translations

of lower quality

• Bashkir: ҡайтыш (qaytïš), кәм (käm)
• Bulgarian: нискокачествен (niskokačestven)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 低劣 (zh)

• Czech: podřadný
• Finnish: huonompi (fi), huono (fi), kehno (fi)
• Galician: inferior (gl)
• Georgian: დაბალხარისხოვანი (dabalxarisxovani), დაბალხარისხიანი (dabalxarisxiani)
• Italian: inferiore (it)
• Japanese: 劣る (otoru)

• Latin: secundārius
• Polish: podrzędny (pl), pośledni (pl)
• Portuguese: inferior (pt)
• Romanian: inferior (ro)
• Russian: ху́дший (ru) (xúdšij)
• Sanskrit: अनार्य (sa) (anārya)
• Spanish: inferior (es)
• Swedish: undermålig (sv)
• Turkish: aşağı derecede olan
• Ukrainian: гірший (hiršyj)

of lower rank

• Bulgarian: по-нисш (po-nisš), подчинен (bg) (podčinen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 低賤 (dījiàn)

• Czech: méněcenný (cs)
• Danish: underordnet
• Esperanto: malsupra
• Finnish: alempiarvoinen (fi), alempi (fi)
• French: inférieur (fr)
• Galician: inferior (gl)
• Georgian: დაქვემდებარებული (dakvemdebarebuli), დამორჩილებული (damorčilebuli)
• German: untergeordnet (de), nachgeordnet, unterlegen (de)
• Greek: κατώτερος (el) (katóteros)

• Italian: inferiore (it), di basso rango
• Japanese: 賎しい (iyashii), 下級の (ja) (kakyū no), 下賎な (ja) (gesen na)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mindreverdig

  Nynorsk: mindreverdig

• Romanian: inferior (ro)
• Russian: нижестоя́щий (ru) (nižestojáščij), подчинённый (ru) (podčinjónnyj), мла́дший (ru) (mládšij) ("junior", of army, police officers), ни́зший (ru) (nízšij)
• Spanish: inferior (es)
• Swedish: underordnad (sv)
• Ukrainian: підлеглий (pidlehlyj)
• Walloon: dizotrin (wa)

located below

• Armenian: ստորին (hy) (storin)
• Bulgarian: долен (bg) (dolen)
• Finnish: alempi (fi), alhaisempi
• French: inférieur (fr)
• Galician: inferior (gl)
• Georgian: ქვედა (kveda)
• German: tiefer (de)

• Greek: κάτω (el) (káto)
• Italian: inferiore (it)
• Romanian: inferior (ro)
• Russian: ни́жний (ru) (nížnij)
• Spanish: inferior (es)
• Ukrainian: нижній (nyžnij)
• Walloon: dizotrin (wa)

inside the flower stalk

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} malsupera

Noun

inferior (plural inferiors)

1. a person of lower stature to another

   As you are my inferior, I can tell you to do anything I want.

   Antonym: superior

Translations

person of lower status (noun)

• Bulgarian: подчинен (bg) m (podčinen)
• Czech: podřízený (cs)
• Danish: underordnet
• Finnish: alempiarvoinen (fi)
• French: inférieur (fr)
• Galician: inferior (gl), subordinado
• Greek: υφιστάμενος (el) m or f (yfistámenos)

• Italian: inferiore (it) m, di basso rango
• Japanese: 賎 (ja) (shizu), 下っ端 (shitappa), 目下 (ja) (meshita)
• Russian: подчинённый (ru) m (podčinjónnyj)
• Spanish: inferior (es)
• Welsh: adlaw m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 下等 (zh) (xiàděng)

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} inferieur (nl)
• German: ^{(please verify)} minderwertig (de)

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 열등한 (yeoldeunghan)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} inferior m or f, ^{(please verify)} inferius n

Further reading

• inferior in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• inferior in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• inferior at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• fire iron, fireiron

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin īnferior.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /im.fə.ɾiˈo/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /im.fe.ɾiˈoɾ/

Adjective

inferior (masculine and feminine plural inferiors)

1. inferior
2. lower

Related terms

• inferioritat

Further reading

• “inferior” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “inferior” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “inferior” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “inferior” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower, inferior”), the comparative of īnferus (“low, nether, underground”).

Adjective

inferior (not comparable)

1. subordinate, secondary
2. (of people) inferior

   sich inferior fühlen ― to feel inferior

3. substandard, bad

Declension

Declension of inferior

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist inferior	sie ist inferior	es ist inferior	sie sind inferior
strong declension (without article)	nominative	inferiorer	inferiore	inferiores	inferiore
	genitive	inferioren	inferiorer	inferioren	inferiorer
	dative	inferiorem	inferiorer	inferiorem	inferioren
	accusative	inferioren	inferiore	inferiores	inferiore
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der inferiore	die inferiore	das inferiore	die inferioren
	genitive	des inferioren	der inferioren	des inferioren	der inferioren
	dative	dem inferioren	der inferioren	dem inferioren	den inferioren
	accusative	den inferioren	die inferiore	das inferiore	die inferioren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein inferiorer	eine inferiore	ein inferiores	(keine) inferioren
	genitive	eines inferioren	einer inferioren	eines inferioren	(keiner) inferioren
	dative	einem inferioren	einer inferioren	einem inferioren	(keinen) inferioren
	accusative	einen inferioren	eine inferiore	ein inferiores	(keine) inferioren

Further reading

• inferior in Duden online

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Latin

Etymology

Comparative form of īnferus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /inˈfe.ri.or/, [ĩːˈfɛ.ri.ɔr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /inˈfe.ri.or/, [inˈfɛː.ri.ɔr]

Adjective

īnferior (neuter īnferius, positive īnferus); third declension

1. lower
2. below
3. subsequent, later, latter

Declension

Third-declension comparative adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	īnferior	īnferius		īnferiōrēs	īnferiōra
Genitive	īnferiōris			īnferiōrum
Dative	īnferiōrī			īnferiōribus
Accusative	īnferiōrem	īnferius		īnferiōrēs	īnferiōra
Ablative	īnferiōre			īnferiōribus
Vocative	īnferior	īnferius		īnferiōrēs	īnferiōra

Descendants

• Catalan: inferior
• English: inferior
• French: inférieur
• Galician: inferior
• Italian: inferiore
• Occitan: inferior
• Portuguese: inferior
• Spanish: inferior

References

• inferior in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• inferior in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• inferior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • later writers: scriptores aetate posteriores or inferiores
    
  • to gain a weak case by clever pleading: causam inferiorem dicendo reddere superiorem (λόγον κρείττω ποιειν) (Brut. 8. 30)
    
  • to be defeated in fight, lose the battle: proelio vinci, superari, inferiorem, victum discedere
    
  • to come off victorious: superiorem (opp. inferiorem), victorem (proelio, pugna) discedere
    

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Occitan

Etymology

From Latin īnferior.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn)

  (file)

Adjective

inferior m (feminine singular inferiora, masculine plural inferiors, feminine plural inferioras)

1. inferior
2. lower

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin inferior.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.fɨˈɾjoɾ/
• Hyphenation: in‧fe‧ri‧or

Adjective

inferior m or f (plural inferiores, comparable)

1. inferior

   Antonym: superior

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌin.fe.riˈor/

Adjective

inferior m or n (feminine singular inferioară, masculine plural inferiori, feminine and neuter plural inferioare)

1. superior

Declension

Declension of inferior

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	inferior		inferioară	inferiori	inferioare
	definite	inferiorul		inferioara	inferiorii	inferioarele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	inferior		inferioare	inferiori	inferioare
	definite	inferiorului		inferioarei	inferiorilor	inferioarelor

Antonyms

• superior

Related terms

• inferioritate

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin inferior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /infeˈɾjoɾ/, [ĩɱfeˈɾjoɾ]
• Hyphenation: in‧fe‧rior

Adjective

inferior (plural inferiores)

1. inferior (of lower quality)
2. inferior (of lower rank)
3. inferior (below)

Antonyms

• superior

Derived terms

• anteroinferior
• paso inferior
• posteroinferior
• vena cava inferior

 

Related terms

• inferioridad

Further reading

• “inferior” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.