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

But he forgot that the world goes forward in fifteen years, and many Subalterns are promoted to Captaincies.

From Soldiers Three by Kipling, Rudyard

He shall have the sole power to issue copies of this Prescript, through his Subalterns and Deputies, for the organ- ization and establishment of subordinate *s.

From Ku Klux Klan Its Origin, Growth and Disbandment by Lester, J. C.

The three Junior Subalterns, Darrell, Leary and Winterton, provided a variety of companionship.

From With British Guns in Italy A Tribute to Italian Achievement by Dalton, Hugh Dalton, Baron

At about seven o'clock in the evening the three Subalterns made their way to the largest hotel in the town, where they found the rest of the Mess already assembled at dinner.

From "Contemptible", by "Casualty" by

Subalterns hang about the Mess, whacking their legs with small pieces of cane and drinking pegs with mournful indifference.

From Twenty-One Days in India; and, the Teapot Series by Aberigh-Mackay, George Robert