substitute
[suhb-sti-toot, -tyoot]
- a person or thing acting or serving in place of another.
- (formerly) a person who, for payment, served in an army or navy in the place of a conscript.
- Grammar. a word that functions as a replacement for any member of a class of words or constructions, as do in He doesn't know but I do.
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- to put (a person or thing) in the place of another.
- to take the place of; replace.
- Chemistry. to replace (one or more elements or groups in a compound) by other elements or groups.
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- to act as a substitute.
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- of or relating to a substitute or substitutes.
- composed of substitutes.
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Origin of substitute
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin substitūtus (past participle of substituere to put in place of), equivalent to sub- sub- + -stitū-, combining form of statū-, past participle stem of statuere (see substituent) + -tus past participle suffix
Synonyms
See more synonyms for substitute on Thesaurus.com1. alternative, replacement, equivalent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for substitution
Contemporary Examples
No prize transfer, assignment, or substitution by Winner is permitted.
The Orbitz Business Travel Survey SweepstakesDecember 14, 2012
The substitution of an effect for a cause is an old technique and trick of classical sophistry.
The Prize is nontransferable and no substitution of the Prize by the Grand Prize Winner is allowed.
OFFICIAL RULES OF THE IMAX® Award Contest—Deadline ExtendedOctober 8, 2012
Yet here is the great problem with Murray's substitution of imagery for numbers in his social thought.
Historical Examples
I presume you thought that we had no way of detecting the substitution?
Was this officer in league with Sidney as to the substitution of some one who desired to save me?
A Romance of the West IndiesEugne Sue
The humorist accepted the substitution as an additional absurdity.
The Booklover and His BooksHarry Lyman Koopman
He writes Arcadia for Euphues but the substitution is legitimate.
John LylyJohn Dover Wilson
The substitution of a comma for another point, or for a letter put in by mistake.
"Stops"Paul Allardyce
substitution
- the act of substituting or state of being substituted
- something or someone substituted
- maths the replacement of a term of an equation by another that is known to have the same value in order to simplify the equation
- maths logic
- the uniform replacement of one expression by another
- substitution instancean expression so derived from another
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substitute
- (often foll by for) to serve or cause to serve in place of another person or thing
- chem to replace (an atom or group in a molecule) with (another atom or group)
- logic maths to replace (one expression) by (another) in the context of a third, as replacing x + y for x in 3 x = k gives 3 x + 3 y = k
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- a person or thing that serves in place of another, such as a player in a game who takes the place of an injured colleague
- (as modifier)a substitute goalkeeper Often shortened to: sub
- grammar another name for pro-form
- Canadian another name for supply teacher
- nautical another word for repeater (def. 5)
- (formerly) a person paid to replace another due for military service
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin substituere, from sub- in place of + statuere to set up
usage
Substitute is sometimes wrongly used where replace is meant: he replaced (not substituted) the worn tyre with a new one
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for substitution
n.
late 14c., "appointment of a subordinate or successor," from Middle French substitution, from Late Latin substitutionem (nominative substitutio) "a putting in place of another," from past participle stem of Latin substituere "put in place of another, place under or next to," from sub "under" (see sub-) + statuere "set up," from PIE root *sta- "to stand," with derivatives meaning "place or thing that is standing" (see stet).
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substitute
v.
early 15c. in transitive sense, 1888 as intransitive, from Latin substitutus, past participle of substituere (see substitution). Related: Substituted; substituting.
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substitute
n.
"one who acts in place of another," early 15c., from Old French substitute and directly from Latin substitutus, past participle of substituere (see substitution). Team sports sense is from 1849.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
substitution
(sŭb′stĭ-tōō′shən)- The replacement of an atom or group of atoms in a compound by another atom or group of atoms.
- An unconscious defense mechanism by which the unacceptable or unattainable is replaced by something more acceptable or attainable.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.