View synonyms for subaltern

subaltern

[ suhb-awl-tern suhb-uhl-turn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

lower in rank; subordinate:
a subaltern employee.
British Military. noting a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.
Logic.
1. denoting the relation of one proposition to another when the first proposition is implied by the second but the second is not implied by the first.
2. (in Aristotelian logic) denoting the relation of a particular proposition to a universal proposition having the same subject, predicate, and quality.
3. of or relating to a proposition having either of these relations to another.

subaltern

/ ˈsʌbəltən /

a commissioned officer below the rank of captain in certain armies, esp the British
a person of inferior rank or position
logic
1. the relation of one proposition to another when the first is implied by the second, esp the relation of a particular to a universal proposition
2. ( as modifier )
  a subaltern relation

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1575–85; < Late Latin subalternus, equivalent to sub- sub- + alternus alternate

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C16: from Late Latin subalternus, from Latin sub- + alternus alternate, from alter the other

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What better hap could a cavalry subaltern desire than such a fight under such conditions?

The subaltern flew up the narrow stairway that led to the room of the prisoner, and demanded the meaning of the outcry.

Where before he had been a subaltern not always even a wage-earner—now all in a moment he had been transformed into a high chief.

And hastily taking a paper from the hands of a subaltern, he returned to his place within the screen.

At his return to Dresden he carried a Musket, and afterwards pass'd through all the subaltern Degrees.

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