subsume

American  

[suhb-soom] / səbˈsum /

verb (used with object)

• subsumes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• subsumed,
  past participle,  past
• subsuming
  present participle

1. to consider or include (an idea, term, proposition, etc.) as part of a more comprehensive one.

2. to bring (a case, instance, etc.) under a rule.

3. to take up into a more inclusive classification.

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subsume British  

/ səbˈsjuːm /

verb

1. to incorporate (an idea, proposition, case, etc) under a comprehensive or inclusive classification or heading

2. to consider (an instance of something) as part of a general rule or principle

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subsumable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• subsuming
  present
• subsumed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• subsume
  simple
• subsumes
  simple
• have subsumed
  perfect
• has subsumed
  perfect
• am subsuming
  progressive
• are subsuming
  progressive
• is subsuming
  progressive
• have been subsuming
  perfect progressive
• has been subsuming
  perfect progressive

Past

• subsumed
  simple
• had subsumed
  perfect
• was subsuming
  progressive
• were subsuming
  progressive
• had been subsuming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will subsume
  simple
• will have subsumed
  perfect
• will be subsuming
  progressive
• will have been subsuming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of subsume

First recorded in 1525–35; from Medieval Latin subsūmere, equivalent to Latin sub- “under, below, beneath”; + sūmere “to take”; see sub-, consume

Explanation

Subsume means to absorb or include. A successful company might subsume a failing competitor through a merger, or love may subsume you in the early stages of a romance. Subsume is a verb that comes from the Latin words sub, which means “from below,” and sumere, which means “take.” So subsume means “to take from below,” like a sneak attack by some kind of deep-sea creature. Sailors and scuba divers should beware of monsters from the blackest depths waiting to subsume them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

subsume subsumes subsumed subsuming

And Tucker Carlson’s sobriety story, where even in a moment of honest vulnerability, one can feel the fictional character he plays on television ready to subsume the man at any moment.

From Slate ● Feb. 15, 2026

The novel echoes thinkers like Hannah Arendt in pointing out how true-believing functionaries, the butt of ridicule in “normal” times, can help subsume all reason and decency to usurp a compliant and too-comfortable ruling class.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

It's a vital question at a time when artificial intelligence threatens to subsume Hollywood.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025

Eventually, this observation takes on remarkable proportions as their lives subsume his own after he begins handling their public relations concerns.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2024

Among the evolutional attempts to subsume the course of history under general syntheses, perhaps the most important is that of Lamprecht, whose "kulturhistorische" attempt to discover and assign the determining causes.

From Evolution in Modern Thought by August Weismann

But to say the administration can be defined as a lack of character—the term subsumes all those other judgments, and is much harder to question.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026

Says Dr. Wong: "In this new paper, we consider evolution in the broadest sense -- change over time -- which subsumes Darwinian evolution based upon the particulars of 'descent with modification.'"

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2023

His résumé reveals a long career as an ensemble player, a sidekick, lately a dad, nearly always an actor who subsumes himself to the character.

From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2022

Indeed, Drake’s work subsumes what would be a traditional approach based on the “male gaze” — reclaiming the ability for women to tell their own story on their own terms.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 19, 2021

Vermeer’s mastery of light’s expressive qualities elevates his concern for the reality of appearance to the level of poetry and subsumes its visual and symbolic possibilities.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

You remember the rhythms and twinkly synths more than the melodies, and Madonna allows her own voice to be subsumed in the music.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Eventually she is subsumed into this alien universe, a creature of nature who allows birds to roost on her chromium shoulder.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2025

Government sources deny that NHS England is being subsumed into the health department but say it will have a "leaner" role, cutting out duplication.

From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2025

Of course, we consume these things differently since streaming took over the world, and arguably since man first learned to program a VCR, with network shows subsumed into the ocean of time-shifted picking and choosing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2025

Fuerte for that reason was a characteristic subsumed by the last of the three qualities, and the one I most often considered—formal.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

The tiny microphone has taken over city streets and college towns, while subsuming video-based social media entirely.

From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2026

Even more consequential was the trust that the Barbers placed in Marshall Stearns, who had an academic pedigree in medieval literature and a subsuming interest in the ethnomusicology of jazz.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025

His death allowed Franco to eliminate a rival and take control of the Falangists, subsuming them to a broader far-right movement that supported his dictatorship.

From Reuters ● Apr. 24, 2023

The e-Tron GT maintains that philosophy, subsuming its electric tech under a voluptuous grand-tourer body and a comforting blanket of Audi luxury.

From New York Times ● Mar. 10, 2022

On Harry dug, deeper and deeper into the hard, cold earth, subsuming his grief in sweat, denying the pain in his scar.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling