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

plural

subsidiaries

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

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

Etymology

Origin of subsidiary

1535–45; < Latin subsidiārius, equivalent to subsidi ( um ) ( 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

Starlink is a subsidiary of SpaceX and is likely a significant source of revenue for that company, potentially bringing in between $500m and $1.2bn from individual user fees alone.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

In Grand Forks, a charity for disabled adults bought Southgate Casino Bar & Grill through a subsidiary.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026

Musk doesn’t just control SpaceX, but also owns its subsidiary Starlink, the world’s largest satellite company, which boasts constellations of 10,000 small satellites and counting.

From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026

PayPal has seen growth in its subsidiary Venmo, a social mobile payment app, and its buy-now-pay-later services.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Up to this point in musical history - the first few years of the twentieth century - ethnic folk elements had been co-opted into classical music as subsidiary exotic flavouring.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• ancillary
• supplementary