Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person who is lower in position or rank; a subordinate.
- noun A person who is marginalized and oppressed by the dominant culture, especially in a colonial context.
- noun Such people considered as a group.
- noun Chiefly British An officer holding a military rank just below that of captain.
- noun Logic A particular proposition that follows from a universal with the same subject, predicate, and quality.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having an inferior or subordinate position; subordinate; specifically (military), holding the rank of a junior officer usually below the rank of captain.
- noun A subaltern officer; a subordinate.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Ranked or ranged below; subordinate; inferior; specifically (Mil.), ranking as a junior officer; being below the rank of captain.
- adjective (Logic) Asserting only a part of what is asserted in a related proposition.
- adjective (Logic) See under
Genus . - noun A person holding a subordinate position; specifically, a commissioned military officer below the rank of captain.
- noun (Logic) A subaltern proposition.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of a lower rank or position;
inferior orsecondary . - noun a
subordinate - noun UK a
commissioned officer having arank below that ofcaptain ; alieutenant orsecond lieutenant - noun logic A subaltern
proposition ; a proposition implied by a universal proposition. For example, some crows are black is a subaltern of all crows are black.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective inferior in rank or status
- noun a British commissioned army officer below the rank of captain
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term subaltern suggests an interest in social class but more generally it is also a methodological orientation that opens up the study of logics of subordination.
Colonialism Kohn, Margaret 2006
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I am sure (if you get newspapers in Ceylon) jump into your mind the moment I mention the word subaltern, and I may as well tell you that in associating me with any one of these deeds at the present time you are entirely wrong.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, November 7, 1917 Various
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Now, there has been an enormous amount of ink spilled on the question of why the Latin American subaltern studies group split up -- no doubt more ink thank the group itself spilled while it existed.
Posthegemony 2009
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Now, there has been an enormous amount of ink spilled on the question of why the Latin American subaltern studies group split up -- no doubt more ink thank the group itself spilled while it existed.
Posthegemony 2009
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Now, there has been an enormous amount of ink spilled on the question of why the Latin American subaltern studies group split up -- no doubt more ink thank the group itself spilled while it existed.
Posthegemony 2009
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Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1891, an untouchable in an India run by the British – that is to say a subaltern twice over, subjugated by an imperial government and by high-caste Indians.
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When the authors of the previously mentioned books pen their own words through self-publication or through "ghetto" publishers, are they in a better position to speak a subaltern voice?
Archive 2007-07-01 Anxious Black Woman 2007
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When the authors of the previously mentioned books pen their own words through self-publication or through "ghetto" publishers, are they in a better position to speak a subaltern voice?
Book Smarts, Street Smarts: So Long at the Fair Anxious Black Woman 2007
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The subaltern was a lean young redhead from the north continent, his fair face spattered with gold freckles from the tropic sun.
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A subaltern is a commissioned officer in the army, under the rank of captain.
Chapter 4. American and English Today. 2. Differences in Usage Henry Louis 1921
dailyword commented on the word subaltern
One of these died in Watson's arms during the war in Afghanistan, and he claimed he saw his ghost when he was on leave in Constantinople.
February 25, 2013