sub-

See also: sub, sub., and ␚

English

Etymology

From Latin sub (“under”).

Prefix

sub-

1. under, beneath

   subterranean

   submarine

2. subsidiary, secondary

   subplot

3. almost, nearly

   subhuman

   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 + c = sus- (susceptible)
• sub + f = suf- (suffer, but subfield)
• sub + g = sug- (suggestion, but subgroup)
• sub + p = sup- (support, but subpage)
• sub + r = sur- (surrogate, but subroutine)
• sub + s = su- (suspect, but subset)
• sub + sp = su- (suspire, but subspecies)
• sub + c, p or t = sus- (susceptible, suspend, sustain, but subtitle)

Antonyms

• super-

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with sub-

Translations

under, beneath

• Armenian: ենթա- (entʻa-), ստոր- (stor-)
• Breton: is- (br)
• Catalan: sub- (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 亞／亚 (zh), 亚 (zh) (yà), 子 (zh) (zǐ)

• Czech: sub-, 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-)
• Hungarian: szub-
• Ido: sub-
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: sotto- (it), sub-
• Japanese: 亜 (ja) (a)
• Malay: sub-
• Moroccan Amazigh: ⴰⴷⵓ- m (Adu-), ⵜⴰⴷⵓ- f (Tadu-), ⵉⴷⵓ- m pl (Idu-), ⵜⵉⴷⵓ- (Tidu-)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: under-

  Nynorsk: under-

• Old English: under-
• Persian: زیر (fa) (zir-)
• Portuguese: sub- (pt), so-
• Russian: под- (ru) (pod-), суб- (ru) (sub-)
• Scottish Gaelic: fo-, frith-
• Spanish: sub- (es)
• Swedish: under- (sv)

subsidiary, secondary

• Breton: eil-, 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-)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: under-

  Nynorsk: under-

• Old English: under-
• Persian: زیر (fa) (zir-)
• Portuguese: sub- (pt)
• Spanish: sub- (es)

almost, nearly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 類／类 (zh) (lèi), 类 (zh) (lèi), 近 (zh) (jìn)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: ala- (fi), ali- (fi)

Anagrams

• Bus., SBU, UBS, USB, bus, bus.

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin sub.

Prefix

sub-

1. sub-

Derived terms

Catalan terms prefixed with sub-

Further reading

• “sub-” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “sub-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “sub-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “sub-” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

sub-

1. sub-

Derived terms

Dutch terms prefixed with sub-

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French

Etymology

From Latin sub-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /syb/, /syp/

Prefix

sub-

1. sub-

Derived terms

French terms prefixed with sub-

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Galician

Etymology

From Latin sub.

Prefix

sub-

1. sub-

Derived terms

Galician terms prefixed with sub-

Further reading

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

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German

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin sub (“under”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [zʊp]

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

sub-

1. sub-

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with sub-

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin sub-.

Alternative forms

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

Prefix

sub-

1. sub-

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with sub-

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Latin

Etymology

From sub (“under, beneath, below”)

Alternative forms

• suc- (before c)
• suf- (before f)
• sug- (before g)
• sum- (before m)
• sup- (before p)
• sur- (before r)
• su- (before sp)

Prefix

sub-

1. sub-

Derived terms

Latin terms prefixed with sub-

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin sub-

Prefix

sub-

1. sub- (under, beneath)

   Synonym: so-

2. sub- (subsidiary, secondary)

Derived terms

Portuguese terms prefixed with sub-

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Romanian

Etymology

See sub, from Latin sub.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sub/

Prefix

sub-

1. sub-

Derived terms

Romanian terms prefixed with sub-

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin sub-.

Prefix

sub-

1. sub-

   Synonym: so-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with sub-

Further reading

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