subter

Latin

Alternative forms

• supter

Etymology

From sub (“under”) +‎ -ter.

The use where subter governs the accusative is from instrumental/ablative and accusative and comes from Proto-Indo-European *-teros used adverbially. The use where it governs ablative is by analogy with sub.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsʊp.tɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsub.ter]

Adverb

subter (comparative subterius, no superlative)

1. down below, underneath

   Supra et subter. ― Up above and down below.

Related terms

• *subterus
• subterior

Preposition

subter (+ accusative, ablative)

1. (with accusative) directly below an area that is under another; underneath, (figuratively) below inferior

   Subter pineta. ― Below the pine-woods.

   • c. 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes 1.20:

     […] iram in pectore, cupiditatem supter praecordia locavit.

     • 1877 translation by Charles Duke Yonge

       […] anger in the breast, and desire under the præcordia.

2. (with ablative) underneath, (figuratively) below inferior

Derived terms

• subterfluō
• subterlabor
• subterfugiō

References

• “subter”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “subter”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “subter”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.