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sub-

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: sub, sub., súb, Şub, and ␚

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *upó

Proto-Italic *supo

Latin sub

Latin sub-der.

English sub-

From Latin sub- (“under”). Doublet of hypo-.

Pronunciation

enPR: sŭb, IPA^(key): /sʌb/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (General American): (file)

Prefix

sub-

Under, beneath.
subterranean

submarine
- 2020 March 14, Lindsay del Valle, “36 Spanish Prefixes That Will Increase Your Vocabulary Times 100!”, in Homeschool Spanish Academy‎^[1]:
  Contrarily, the prefix “sub-” doesn’t change meaning so much as it provides specificity, as seen in the difference between “title” and “subtitle.”
Subsidiary, secondary.
subplot
Almost, nearly.
subconical

subequatorial

Usage notes

In Latin, the following sound changes affected "sub-" and cause English borrowings from Latin which contain this prefix to have different forms. Words formed in English using the prefix "sub-" do not exhibit these sound changes. (Combination with 's' involved elision and the other changes involved assimilation.)

sub + c = suc- (hence succession, from Latin successiō; but e.g. subculture formed in English from sub- + culture)
sub + p = sup- (support, but subpage)
sub + c, p or t = sus- (susceptible, suspend, sustain, but subtitle)
sub + g = sug- (suggestion, but subgroup)
sub + r = sur- (surrogate, but subroutine)
sub + f = suf- (suffer, but subfield)
sub + s(p) = su- (suspect, suspire but subset, subspecies)

Synonyms

(under): under-, hypo-, infra-
(almost): pene-, quasi-

Antonyms

super-

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with sub-

subactinomorphic

subadiabaticity

subadministration

subadministrative

subadministrator

subagglutinating

subantihypertensive

subantimicrobial

subarchesporial

subarchitectural

subarchitecture

subarctometatarsus

Translations

under, beneath

Armenian: ենթա- (entʻa-), ստոր- (stor-)
Breton: is- (br)
Catalan: sub- (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 亞 / 亚 (zh) (yà), 子 (zh) (zǐ)
Czech: sub- (cs), pod-
Dutch: sub- (nl), onder-
Finnish: ala- (fi), ali- (fi)
French: sous- (fr), sub- (fr)
Galician: sub- (gl)
German: unter- (de), sub- (de)
Greek: υπο- (el) (ypo-)
Hebrew: תַּת־ (he) (tat-)
Hungarian: szub-
Ido: sub-
Italian: sotto- (it), sub- (it)
Malay: sub- (ms)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: under-

Nynorsk: under-
Old English: under-
Persian: زیرـ (zir-)
Polish: pod- (pl)
Portuguese: sub- (pt), so- (pt)
Russian: под- (ru) (pod-), суб- (ru) (sub-)
Scottish Gaelic: fo-, frith-
Spanish: sub- (es), so- (es), sota-, soto-
Swedish: under- (sv)
Unami: èkw-
Welsh: is-

subsidiary, secondary

Breton: eil- (br), bes- (br)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 副 (zh) (fù)
Dutch: deel-
Esperanto: sub-
Finnish: ala- (fi), ali- (fi)
Galician: sub- (gl)
Greek: υπο- (el) (ypo-), παρα- (el) (para-)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: under-

Nynorsk: under-
Old English: under-
Persian: زیرـ (zir-)
Polish: pod- (pl)
Portuguese: sub- (pt)
Spanish: sub- (es), so- (es), sota-, soto-
Welsh: is-

almost, nearly

Chinese:
Mandarin: 類 / 类 (zh) (lèi), 近 (zh) (jìn)
Finnish: ala- (fi), ali- (fi)
Japanese: 亜 (ja) (a)
Polish: sub- (pl)
Russian: суб- (ru) (sub-)
Welsh: is-

References

^ http://www.affixes.org/s/sub-.html

Further reading

“sub-”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “sub-”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Anagrams

Bus., SBU, UBS, USB, bus, bus.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sub.

Prefix

sub-

sub-

Derived terms

Further reading

“sub-”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
“sub-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
“sub-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “sub-”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Czech

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [sub ]

Prefix

sub-

sub-
Synonym: pod-

‎sub- + ‎optimální → ‎suboptimální

Derived terms

Czech terms prefixed with sub-

Further reading

“sub-”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
sub- in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

Danish

Etymology

From Latin sub.

Prefix

sub-

sub-

Derived terms

Danish terms prefixed with sub-

References

“sub-” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)

Prefix

sub-

sub-

Derived terms

Dutch terms prefixed with sub-

French

Etymology

From Latin sub-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /syb/, /syp/

Prefix

sub-

sub-

Derived terms

Galician

Etymology

From Latin sub.

Prefix

sub-

sub-

Derived terms

From

Galician terms prefixed with sub-

.

Further reading

“sub-”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

German

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin sub (“under”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [zʊp]
Audio (Germany (Berlin)): (file)

Prefix

sub-

sub-

Derived terms

Italian

Alternative forms

sud- (before a letter "d")
sum- (before a letter "m")

Etymology

From Latin sub-.

Prefix

sub-

sub-

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with sub-

subcontinentale

submediterraneo

submicroscopico

subpianeggiante

subraffreddamento

subsarcolemmale

Latin

Alternative forms

suc- (before c)
suf- (before f)
sug- (before g)
sum- (before m)
sup- (before p)
sur- (before r)
su- (before sp)
sus- (sometimes before c or t)

Etymology

From sub (“under, beneath, below”).

Prefix

sub-

under, sub-
Antonym: super- (most senses)
1. Attached to verbs:
  1. denotes position: underneath
    ‎sub- + ‎scrībō (“to write”) → ‎subscrībō (“to write underneath”, “to write below”)
  2. denotes movement:
    1. (ablative movement): from underneath
      ‎sub- + ‎trahō (“to drag”, “pull”) → ‎subtrahō (“to pull”, “drag from underneath”)
    2. (allative movement): towards the underside of something, or lower part thereof, (to) underneath; (loosely) denotes regular allative movement: towards, to
      Synonym: ad- (“towards”, “to”)
      
      ‎sub- + ‎iaciō (“to throw”, “hurl”) → ‎subiciō (“to throw underneath”)
      
      ‎sub- + ‎eō (“to go”) → ‎subeō (“to go beneath”, or “come under”; (also) “to come towards”, “approach”)
  3. (transferred senses):
    1. secretively, privily or stealthily; (by extension, in a bad sense) evilly, wickedly, falsely, cunningly or with bad intents
      ‎sub- + ‎moneō (“to warn”, “advise”) → ‎summoneō (“to advise secretively”)
      
      ‎sub- + ‎-dō (“to put”, “place”) → ‎subdō (“to substitute falsely”)
    2. denotes sufferance, coping, or brooking
      ‎sub- + ‎eō (“to go”) → ‎subeō (“to undergo”, “bear”)
    3. denotes proping, supporting; (by extension) denotes helping
      ‎sub- + ‎ferō (“to hold”) → ‎sufferō (“to hold up”, “support” or “sustain”)
      
      ‎sub- + ‎currō (“to run”) → ‎succurrō (“to run to help”, “to come to save”)
    4. (downtoning) lowers the intensity of the corresponding verb: a little, somewhat, vaguely
      ‎sub- + ‎timeō (“to be afraid”, “fear”) → ‎subtimeō (“to fear a little”, “be somewhat afraid”)
    5. denotes substitution
      ‎sub- + ‎faciō (“to do”, “make”) → ‎sufficiō (“to appoint as substitute”)
    6. denotes sufficiency
      ‎sub- + ‎petō (“to make for”) → ‎suppetō (“to be at hand”)
      
      ‎sub- + ‎faciō (“to do”, “make”) → ‎sufficiō (“to be sufficient”)
2. In compounds, may stand for sub in a prepositional phrase
  ‎sub- (“under”) + ‎terra (“earth”) + ‎-āneus (adjective-forming suffix) → ‎subterrāneus (“subterranean, underground”)
  
  ‎sub- (“under”) + ‎lūna (“moon”) + ‎-āris (adjective-forming suffix) → ‎sublūnāris (“sublunar”, “sublunary”)
3. (downtoning) Attached to adjectives, creates new adjectives of lesser intensity, having a sense like "somewhat", "slightly", "rather", "-ish"
  ‎sub- (“somewhat”) + ‎amārus (“bitter”) → ‎subamārus (“somewhat bitter”, “bitterish”)

Derived terms

Latin terms prefixed with sub-

submembranaceus

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *upó

Proto-Italic *supo

Latin sub

Latin sub-lbor.

Polish sub-

Learned borrowing from Latin sub-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sub/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ub
Syllabification: sub-

Prefix

sub-

sub- (under, beneath)
Synonym: pod-
sub- (subsidiary, secondary)
Synonym: pod-
sub- (almost, nearly)
Synonym: pod-

Derived terms

Polish terms prefixed with sub-

Further reading

“sub-”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sub-. Doublet of so-.

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsub(i)/
(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsub(ɨ)/

Prefix

sub-

sub- (under, beneath)
Synonym: so-
sub- (subsidiary, secondary)

Derived terms

Further reading

“sub-”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
“sub-”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

See sub, from Latin sub.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sub/

Prefix

sub-

sub-

Derived terms

Romanian terms prefixed with sub-

subalimentație

subconștiință

subîncrengătură

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *upó

Proto-Italic *supo

Latin sub

Latin sub-bor.

Spanish sub-

Borrowed from Latin sub-. Doublet of so-, which was inherited.

Prefix

sub-

sub-
Synonym: so-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with sub-

subadministrador

subdesarrollado

subdiagnóstico

Further reading

“sub-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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