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

It’s an island nation that was dominated for centuries by a neighboring superpower, and now serves as privileged subaltern to another one.

From Salon • Mar. 16, 2025

Is the thing I’m supposed to glean here that in this new oligarchical order, mortal enemies like the Pillsbury Dough Boy and the The Quaker Man have joined sides to plunder the subaltern?

From Slate • Feb. 10, 2025

She had enrolled as an honorary subaltern in early 1945, when she was 18.

From New York Times • Sep. 8, 2022

The islands, which fell under Danish rule in the fourteenth century, became self-governing in 1948, but the relationship between the two countries remains that of a resentful subaltern state and a condescending colonial power.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 11, 2018

We were interrupted by a subaltern, who scolded us and told us to leave the body lie.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson