subcategorize

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verb

To categorize more specifically by placing in a subcategory.

OriginEnglish categorize ← French catégorie ← Middle French categorie →
Scrabble 27
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Meanings

verbsubcategorize (third-person singular simple present subcategorizes, present participle subcategorizing, simple past and past participle subcategorized)

present singular third person subcategorizes · participle present subcategorizing · participle past subcategorized · past subcategorized · alternative subcategorise

  1. transitiveTo categorize more specifically by placing in a subcategory.
  2. grammarTo practice subcategorization.
    1 more example

    As we see from the examples in (55): (55) (a) John will put [_(NP) the car] [_(PP) in the garage] (55) (b) ^✽John will put [_(NP) the car] (55) (c) ^✽John will put [_(PP) in the garage] (55) (d) ^✽John will put the Verb put subcategorizes (i.e. ‘takesʼ) obligatory NP and PP complements (to simplify exposition here, we ignore the fact that the subcategorization properties of put may be predictable from its thematic properties, and from general word-order principles such as the STRICT ADJACENCY CONDITION).

    1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 8, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 421

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*upó
  2. Proto-Italic*supo
  3. Latinsub
  4. Latinsub-
  5. Englishsub-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  7. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ḱm̥-th₂der.?
  9. Proto-Hellenic*kətá
  10. Ancient Greekκᾰτᾰ́ (kătắ)
  11. Ancient Greekκᾰτᾰ- (kătă-)
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ger-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₂goréh₂
  14. Proto-Hellenic*agorā́
  15. Ancient Greekᾰ̓γορᾱ́ (ăgorā́)
  16. Ancient Greekἀγορεύω (agoreúō)
  17. Ancient Greekκᾰτήγορος (kătḗgoros)
  18. Ancient Greekκᾰτηγορέω (kătēgoréō)
  19. Ancient Greekκατηγορία (katēgoría)
  20. Late Latincatēgoria
  21. Middle Frenchcategorie
  22. Frenchcatégorie
  23. Englishcategory
  24. Englishcategorize
  25. Englishsubcategorize

From sub- + categorize.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Portuguese subcategorizar
  • subcategorizarto categorize more specifically
Cite this entry
APA

subcategorize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subcategorize

MLA

“subcategorize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subcategorize. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “subcategorize,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subcategorize.

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