subdue

English

Etymology

From Middle English subdewen, subduen, sodewen, from Old French souduire, from Latin subdūcō (“to draw away”), perhaps influenced by subdō (“to subdue, subject”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /səbˈdu/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /səbˈdjuː/, /səbˈdʒuː/, /sʌb-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

subdue (third-person singular simple present subdues, present participle subduing, simple past and past participle subdued)

1. (transitive) To overcome, quieten, or bring under control.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:

     And when their ſcattered armie is ſubdu’d:
     And you march on their ſlaughtered carkaſſes,
     Share equally the gold that bought their liues,
     And liue like Gentlmen in Perſea, […]

   • 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Gary Cahill, a target for Arsenal and Tottenham before the transfer window closed, put England ahead early on and Rooney was on target twice before the interval as the early hostility of the Bulgarian supporters was swiftly subdued.

2. (transitive) To bring (a country) under control by force.

Synonyms

• underbring

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dewk- (0 c, 70 e)

Translations

to overcome, quieten, bring under control

• Arabic: طَوَّعَ (ṭawwaʕa), تَغَلَّبَ عَلَى (taḡallaba ʕalā)
• Aromanian: ncljin
• Azerbaijani: tabe etmək
• Bulgarian: подчинявам (bg) impf (podčinjavam), подчиня pf (podčinja)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 征服 (zh) (zhēngfú), 制伏 (zh) (zhìfú)

• Czech: podmanit si pf, podrobit si pf, přemoci pf
• Danish: kue, underkue, undertrykke
• Dutch: onder controle brengen
• Esperanto: obeigi, kvietigi (eo)
• Finnish: nujertaa (fi), kukistaa (fi)
• French: soumettre (fr), subjuguer (fr)
• German: unter Kontrolle bringen, unterwerfen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: καταπονέω (kataponéō), χειρόομαι (kheiróomai)

• Ido: submisar (io), domtar (io)
• Irish: ceansaigh, traoch
• Italian: sottomettere (it), soggiogare (it)
• Japanese: 平げる (たいらげる, tairageru), 征服する (ja) (せいふくする, seifuku suru)
• Latin: subdō, pācō (la)
• Maori: whakangohengohe
• Occitan: subjugar, sometre (oc)
• Portuguese: subjugar (pt)
• Romanian: supune (ro), cuceri (ro), subjuga (ro), închina (ro)
• Russian: подчиня́ть (ru) impf (podčinjátʹ), подчини́ть (ru) pf (podčinítʹ)
• Sanskrit: उब्जति (ubjati)
• Sicilian: divìnciri, suttamèttiri
• Spanish: someter (es), doblegar (es), domeñar (es), debelar (es)
• Swedish: kuva (sv)
• Turkish: hizaya getirmek (tr)
• Vietnamese: kềm nén

to bring (a country) under control by force

• Bulgarian: покорявам (bg) (pokorjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 征服 (zh) (zhēngfú)

• Czech: podmanit si pf, podrobit si pf, přemoci pf
• Danish: kue, underkue, underkue
• Dutch: onderwerpen (nl)
• Esperanto: obeigi
• Finnish: vallata (fi)
• French: assujettir (fr)
• German: unterwerfen (de)
• Hungarian: leigáz (hu)
• Ido: submisar (io)
• Italian: sottomettere (it)
• Japanese: 平げる (たいらげる, tairageru), 征服する (ja) (せいふくする, seifuku suru)
• Maori: pēhipēhi
• Occitan: sometre (oc), subjugar
• Portuguese: submeter (pt)
• Russian: завоёвывать (ru) impf (zavojóvyvatʹ), завоева́ть (ru) pf (zavojevátʹ)
• Spanish: someter (es)