subside

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin subsīdō (“to squat, sit down, settle, sink”),^[2][3][4][5] formed from sub- (“under, down”) and sīdō (“to sit down, settle”),^[2][3][4] which is related to sedeō (“to sit”),^[4][6][7] from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”).^[4][3] Klein compares Ancient Greek ἵζω (hízō, “I seat, set”).^[6] Barnhart thought it possibly a back-formation from subsidence, influenced by the Latin verb,^[8] but the revised OED records the verb from 1607, and Barnhart's first date for the noun is 1646.^[2][8] The Latin verb could already mean to fall to the bottom of a liquid, sink to a lower level, and, of winds, fires and strong feelings, to die down.^[2] Compare Italian subsidere (“to precipitate”), recorded before 1585, and Middle French soubseoir (“to sink down”), altered after seoir (“to sit”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To settle upon a particular object, in Jonson's Volpone (1607), a rare sense now obsolete.^[2] The Merriam-Webster Unabridged also gives 1607.^[9] The dictionaries that lack this record date the word later: Dictionary.com to 1640–50, Barnhart to 1681 and Etymonline to the 1680s, the last two with the sense of sinking to the bottom.^[10][8][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense of sinking is recorded in English from 1634, in T. Johnson's translation of Paré, both of matter settling to the bottom and of a swelling going down.^[2] Water and soil could subside to a lower level from 1671,^[2][4] and ground or buildings could cave in from 1678.^[2] The figurative use, of feelings or disturbances becoming calm, is recorded from before 1645, in Laud,^[2] while Barnhart finds it before 1700, in Evelyn's diary,^[8] and Etymonline about 1700.^[4] A condition could die down from 1654,^[2] and wind and sea could grow calm from 1680,^[2] a use that Etymonline dates by 1721.^[4] Johnson's Dictionary (1755) gave only "to sink; to tend downwards", with examples from Dryden and Pope.^[11] People subsided into inactivity from 1726, fell silent from 1734,^[2] and sank down into a chair from 1809.^[2]

Timeline

• 1607 – to settle upon an object or purpose (until 1897).^[2]
• 1634 – to sink to the bottom; of a swelling, to go down.^[2]
• before 1645 – of feelings, to become calm.^[2]
• 1650 – to cause to sink inward.^[2][12]
• 1654 – of a condition, to die down.^[2]
• 1671 – of water or soil, to sink to a lower level.^[2]
• 1678 – of ground or a building, to cave in.^[2]
• 1680 – of wind or the sea, to fall calm.^[2]
• 1726 – of a person, to fall into a less active state.^[2]
• 1809 – of a person, to sink down into a chair.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To become less intense, loud or violent; to abate: The noise of the crowd slowly subsided.^[13][9][2]
2. To sink to a lower or normal level: The river subsided after the rains.^[13][9][2]
3. Of ground or a building, to cave in or settle: The road subsided over the old mine.^[13][2]
4. Of sediment and other matter, to sink to the bottom; to precipitate.^[13][9][2]
5. Of a swelling, to go down.^[12][2]
6. Of a person, to sink down: She subsided onto the sofa.^[9][2]
7. Of a person, to fall silent or become less active.^[2]
8. To cause to sink inward (obsolete, 1650).^[2][12]

Word family

• subsidence
• subsider
• nonsubsiding
• unsubsiding
• unsubsided

Related words

• subsidize
• subsidy
• sit
• seat
• sedentary
• sediment
• reside

Usage notes

A rare noun subside, a financial contribution or subsidy, used from about 1425 to 1801, has a separate source: Anglo-Norman subside, from Latin subsidium, the source of subsidy.^[2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins