subsidiary

American  

[suhb-sid-ee-er-ee] / səbˈsɪd iˌɛr i /

adjective

1. serving to assist or supplement; auxiliary; supplementary.

2. subordinate or secondary.

   subsidiary issues.

3. of or relating to a subsidiary.

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noun

subsidiaries plural

1. a subsidiary thing or person.

2. subsidiary company.

3. Music. a subordinate theme or subject.

subsidiary British  

/ səbˈsɪdɪərɪ /

adjective

1. serving to aid or supplement; auxiliary

2. of lesser importance; subordinate in function

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noun

1. a person who or thing that is subsidiary

2. short for subsidiary company

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subsidiariness
  noun
• nonsubsidiary
  adjective
• unsubsidiary
  adjective
• subsidiarily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• subsidiaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of subsidiary

1535–45; < Latin subsidiārius, equivalent to subsidi ( um ) ( see subsidy) + -ārius -ary

Explanation

If a company belongs to another company, then the owned company is a subsidiary. When a large company bought your small business, you became a subsidiary. It still hurts to call them the parent company, since you publish novels and they make toilet paper. The adjective form of subsidiary describes something that is of secondary importance or that functions in a supporting capacity. In addition to running the band program, you're a member of several subsidiary committees like the fund raising committee and the hospitality committee. Traffic on the road was light when you drove outside the city, but as more subsidiary roads joined with the main one, traffic quickly became congested.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

subsidiary subsidiaries

In 2019 OpenAI created a for-profit subsidiary, directly controlled by the nonprofit’s directors, to raise investor funds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

The firm was acquired by First Eagle Investments in April and continues to operate under its own management as a subsidiary of First Eagle.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

“We thought, hey, we could actually use this to market our company and enter into the U.S. market,” said Ryoji Iguchi, chief executive of the subsidiary.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

The aircraft - believed to have been an 18 year-old-plane - was operated by Ryanair's subsidiary Malta Air.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

I hailed an autocab outside the Mailbox, making sure to select one operated by a local cab company and not a SupraCab, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of IOI.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Negotiations at Audi, Porsche and other German subsidiaries brought the total to roughly 50,000.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Filed on behalf of three drivers last week, the proposed class-action lawsuit accuses roughly a dozen companies and their subsidiaries — including Walmart and 7-Eleven — of using algorithmic software to fix prices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

SpaceX’s subsidiaries were sued earlier this year over air pollution concerns from its use of those turbines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

While not exactly treasure, multinationals receive licensing revenues from their subsidiaries in other countries as part of tax optimisation strategies.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

“That? I don’t know. But I’ve got a notion. Remember, those subsidiaries were Dave’s ‘fingers.’

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

Related Words

• ancillary
• supplementary