sub-

/sʌb/

prefix

Under, beneath.

“subplot”

Similar
under-hypo-infra-pene-quasi-
Opposite
super-
OriginLatin sub- →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

prefix
  1. Under, beneath.

    submarine

    2 more examples

    subterranean

    Contrarily, the prefix “sub-” doesn’t change meaning so much as it provides specificity, as seen in the difference between “title” and “subtitle.”

    2020 March 14, Lindsay del Valle, “36 Spanish Prefixes That Will Increase Your Vocabulary Times 100!”, in Homeschool Spanish Academy

    Synonyms: under-, hypo-, infra-

  2. Subsidiary, secondary.

    subplot

  3. Almost, nearly.

    subconical

    1 more example

    subequatorial

    Synonyms: pene-, quasi-

Synonyms & antonyms

prefixUnder, beneath.

Similar
under-hypo-infra-

prefixAlmost, nearly.

Similar
pene-quasi-
Opposite
super-
Also see
hypo-infra-pene-quasi-under-

Origin

  1. Latinsub
  2. Latinsub-
  3. Englishsub-

From Latin sub- (“under”). Doublet of hypo-.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan sub-
  • sub-under, beneath
Chinese Mandarin 亞 /亚, 子
  • 亞 /亚 (yà)under, beneath
  • 子 (zǐ)under, beneath
  • 副 (fù)subsidiary, secondary
  • 類 /类 (lèi)almost, nearly
  • 近 (jìn)almost, nearly
Czech sub-, pod-
  • sub-under, beneath
  • pod-under, beneath
Dutch sub-, onder-
  • sub-under, beneath
  • onder-under, beneath
  • deel-subsidiary, secondary
Esperanto sub-
  • sub-subsidiary, secondary
Finnish ala-, ali-
  • ala-under, beneath
  • ali-under, beneath
  • ala-subsidiary, secondary
  • ali-subsidiary, secondary
  • ala-almost, nearly
  • ali-almost, nearly
French sous-, sub-
  • sous-under, beneath
  • sub-under, beneath
German unter-, sub-
  • unter-under, beneath
  • sub-under, beneath
Greek υπο-, υπο-
  • υπο- (ypo-)under, beneath
  • υπο- (ypo-)subsidiary, secondary
  • παρα- (para-)subsidiary, secondary
Hebrew תַּת־
  • תַּת־ (tat-)under, beneath
Hungarian szub-
  • szub-under, beneath
Italian sotto-, sub-
  • sotto-under, beneath
  • sub-under, beneath
Japanese 亜
  • 亜 (a)almost, nearly
Malay sub-
  • sub-under, beneath
Norwegian Bokmål under-, under-
  • under-under, beneath
  • under-subsidiary, secondary
Persian زیرـ, زیرـ
  • زیرـ (zir-)under, beneath
  • زیرـ (zir-)subsidiary, secondary
Polish pod-, pod-
  • pod-under, beneath
  • pod-subsidiary, secondary
  • sub-almost, nearly
Portuguese sub-, so-
  • sub-under, beneath
  • so-under, beneath
  • sub-subsidiary, secondary
Russian под-, суб-
  • под- (pod-)under, beneath
  • суб- (sub-)under, beneath
  • суб- (sub-)almost, nearly
Scottish Gaelic fo-, frith-
  • fo-under, beneath
  • frith-under, beneath
Spanish sub-, so-
  • sub-under, beneath
  • so-under, beneath
  • sota-under, beneath
  • soto-under, beneath
  • sub-subsidiary, secondary
  • so-subsidiary, secondary
  • sota-subsidiary, secondary
  • soto-subsidiary, secondary
Swedish under-
  • under-under, beneath
Welsh is-, is-
  • is-under, beneath
  • is-subsidiary, secondary
  • is-almost, nearly
Cite this entry
APA

sub-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sub-

MLA

“sub-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sub-. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sub-,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sub-.

Source: sub- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.