surrogate

American  

[sur-uh-geyt, -git, suhr-, sur-uh-geyt, suhr-] / ˈsɜr əˌgeɪt, -gɪt, ˈsʌr-, ˈsɜr əˌgeɪt, ˈsʌr- /

noun

1. a person appointed to act for another; deputy.

2. (in some states) a judicial officer having jurisdiction over the probate of wills, the administration of estates, etc.

3. the deputy of an ecclesiastical judge, especially of a bishop or a bishop's chancellor.

4. a substitute.

5. a surrogate mother.

6. Politics. someone who acts on behalf of a politician or political candidate by making public appearances, issuing statements, etc., when that person is engaged elsewhere or when that person’s image would be bolstered by certain affiliations.

   His camp won the “prestige of science” battle by signing on high-profile physicists, chemists, and biologists as campaign surrogates.

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adjective

1. regarded or acting as a surrogate.

   a surrogate father.

2. involving or indicating the use of a surrogate mother to conceive or carry an embryo.

   surrogate parenting.

verb (used with object)

surrogated, surrogating

1. to put into the place of another as a successor, substitute, or deputy; substitute for another.

2. to subrogate.

surrogate British  

noun

1. a person or thing acting as a substitute

2. a deputy, such as a clergyman appointed to deputize for a bishop in granting marriage licences

3. psychiatry a person who is a substitute for someone else, esp in childhood when different persons, such as a brother or teacher, can act as substitutes for the parents

4. (in some US states) a judge with jurisdiction over the probate of wills, etc

5. (modifier) of, relating to, or acting as a surrogate

   a surrogate pleasure

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verb

1. to put in another's position as a deputy, substitute, etc

2. to appoint as a successor to oneself

Other Word Forms

• surrogateship
  noun
• surrogation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of surrogate

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin surrogātus, variant of subrogātus “nominated as a substitiute”; see subrogate

Explanation

Someone who acts as a surrogate takes the place of another person. If a celebrity leaves her seat to use the restroom in the middle of a big Hollywood awards ceremony, a surrogate will take her place until she returns. Surrogate comes from the Latin word surrogare, which means "to put in another's place," or "to substitute." An uncle might refer to his niece as a surrogate child if they are very close, especially if he doesn't have his own biological children. Since 1978, surrogate has also been used to describe a woman who carries and delivers a baby for another person or couple.

Example Sentences

In the end, David had to go to Brooklyn Surrogate Court and seek a series of orders.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

The Fire Surrogate Study was one of 13 studies across the U.S. first launched in 1999 with funding from the U.S.

From Science Daily • Dec. 12, 2023

In February, the Government Accountability Office completed a report titled “Special Operations: Overarching Guidance Needed to Oversee and Assess Use of Surrogate Forces to Combat Terrorism,” but everything about it beyond its title is classified.

From New York Times • May 14, 2023

Surrogate operations like those used in Ukraine are called “1202 programs,” named for Section 1202 of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, the law that approved their use and funding.

From Washington Post • Feb. 10, 2023

Lenina suddenly felt all the sensations normally experienced at the beginning of a Violent Passion Surrogate treatment—a sense of dreadful emptiness, a breathless apprehension, a nausea.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

Related Words

• proxy
• stand-in