subaltern

American  

[suhb-awl-tern, suhb-uhl-turn] / sʌbˈɔl tərn, ˈsʌb əlˌtɜrn /

adjective

1. lower in rank; subordinate.

   a subaltern employee.

2. British Military. noting a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.

3. 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.

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noun

1. a person who has a subordinate position.

2. British Military. a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.

3. Logic. a subaltern proposition.

subaltern British  

/ ˈsʌbəltən /

noun

1. a commissioned officer below the rank of captain in certain armies, esp the British

2. a person of inferior rank or position

3. 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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adjective

1. of inferior position or rank

Other Word Forms

• subalternity
  noun

Etymology

Origin of subaltern

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

Explanation

A subaltern is someone with a low ranking in a social, political, or other hierarchy. It can also mean someone who has been marginalized or oppressed. From the Latin roots sub- ("below"), and alternus ("all others"), subaltern is used to describe someone of a low rank (as in the military) or class (as in a caste system). Subalterns occupy entry-level jobs or occupy a lower rung of the "corporate ladder." But the term is also used to describe someone who has no political or economic power, such as a poor person living under a dictatorship.

Example Sentences

She was registered as number 230873, Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, and she spent three weeks with a carefully chosen group of other recruits, learning about basic motor mechanics and how to drive a lorry.

From BBC • Sep. 15, 2022

In 1945, after months of urging her parents to let her do something for the war effort, the heir to the throne became Second Subaltern Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2022

In 1945, after months of campaigning for her parents’ permission to do something for the war effort, the heir to the throne became Second Subaltern Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

From Washington Times • Sep. 8, 2022

Her landmark 1985 essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” emphasizes that since speaking is a transactional relationship between speaker and listener, those who are “subaltern”—who are truly written out of capitalist structures—cannot be heard.

From Slate • Oct. 31, 2019

What the service would be without the Junior Subaltern the Junior Subaltern cannot imagine.

From Our Battalion Being Some Slight Impressions of His Majesty's Auxiliary Forces, in Camp and Elsewhere by Raven-Hill, Leonard