surrogate

American  

[sur-uh-geyt, -git, suhr-, sur-uh-geyt, suhr-] / ˈsɜr əˌgeɪt, -gɪt, ˈsʌr-, ˈsɜr əˌgeɪt, ˈsʌr- /

noun

1. a person appointed to act for another; deputy.

2. (in some states) a judicial officer having jurisdiction over the probate of wills, the administration of estates, etc.

3. the deputy of an ecclesiastical judge, especially of a bishop or a bishop's chancellor.

4. a substitute.

5. a surrogate mother.

6. Politics. someone who acts on behalf of a politician or political candidate by making public appearances, issuing statements, etc., when that person is engaged elsewhere or when that person’s image would be bolstered by certain affiliations.

   His camp won the “prestige of science” battle by signing on high-profile physicists, chemists, and biologists as campaign surrogates.

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adjective

1. regarded or acting as a surrogate.

   a surrogate father.

2. involving or indicating the use of a surrogate mother to conceive or carry an embryo.

   surrogate parenting.

verb (used with object)

surrogated, surrogating

1. to put into the place of another as a successor, substitute, or deputy; substitute for another.

2. to subrogate.

surrogate British  

noun

1. a person or thing acting as a substitute

2. a deputy, such as a clergyman appointed to deputize for a bishop in granting marriage licences

3. psychiatry a person who is a substitute for someone else, esp in childhood when different persons, such as a brother or teacher, can act as substitutes for the parents

4. (in some US states) a judge with jurisdiction over the probate of wills, etc

5. (modifier) of, relating to, or acting as a surrogate

   a surrogate pleasure

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verb

1. to put in another's position as a deputy, substitute, etc

2. to appoint as a successor to oneself

Other Word Forms

• surrogateship noun
• surrogation noun

Etymology

Origin of surrogate

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin surrogātus, variant of subrogātus “nominated as a substitiute”; subrogate

Example Sentences

Black: Dell Technologies has grown its AI server business and become a surrogate AI play.

From Barron's

In an interview with People published Wednesday, Trainor further explained her and Sabara’s decision to have a surrogate carry their child.

From Los Angeles Times

After his mother died when he was 13, “Howie” became a surrogate parent and role model to his younger sibling, his brother wrote in a letter of support for Rubin’s bail application.

From The Wall Street Journal

In late 2021, she agreed to act as a surrogate through an agency that paired her with a gay couple from Washington, D.C.

From The Wall Street Journal

Are there surrogate females at that institution that can step in if a mother rejects her infant?

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• proxy
• stand-in