Etymologically
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sub

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:45. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is a clipping, at different times, of subordinate,[2][3] subaltern,[2][3] substitute,[4][5] subscription[2][3] and submarine.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A subordinate: 1696 in the OED.[2]

Semantic evolution

A subaltern officer was a sub from 1756,[2] a subscription from 1805,[2] and a substitute from 1830, first of substitute printers in the United States.[4][5][2] The verb “to act as a substitute” is from 1853, in Mark Twain's letters.[5][4] An advance on wages, short for subsistence money, is from 1866,[2][7] a submarine from 1917,[4][2] and in the United States a submarine sandwich from 1955.[2] In British use, to sub is also to subedit.[6]

Timeline

  • 1696 – a subordinate.[2]
  • 1756 – a subaltern.[2]
  • 1830 – a substitute.[4][5]
  • 1853 – verb, to substitute.[5]
  • 1866 – an advance on wages.[2]
  • 1917 – a submarine.[4][2]
  • 1955 – a submarine sandwich.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A substitute, especially in sport.
  2. A submarine.
  3. A submarine sandwich.
  4. (chiefly British) A subscription, or an advance on wages.
  5. A subeditor or other subordinate.

Verb

  1. To act as a substitute.
  2. (chiefly British) To subedit.

Word family

  • minisub
  • subchaser
  • sub judice
  • sub voce
  • sub-
  • substitute
  • submarine
  • subordinate
  • subaltern

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster