Meanings
- biologyA rank in the classification of organisms, below species.
I believe it [the trilobite Calymene blumenbachii] has been divided into several forms, which cannot claim more than the rank of subspecies, as they pass by slight gradations into forms which no author has yet thought it right to separate from the type species.
1866, A[ndrew] C[rombie] Ramsay, “Trilobita”, in The Geology of North Wales (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and of the Museum of Practical Geology; [III]), London: Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office; published by Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, →OCLC, page 3251 more example
Ant taxonomists have decided that anything that's worth separating should be separated at the species level, and have no truck with subspecies at all. Butterfly taxonomists, however, like the triple-barrelled name approach and dote on subspecies. As a result, the numbers of ant species and butterfly species are not directly comparable.
2007 March 14, Emma Marris, “The Species and the Specious”, in Nature, number 446, archived from the original on 22 Jul 2024 - biologyA taxon at that rank, often indicated with trinomial nomenclature (such as Felis silvestris silvestris in zoology and Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii in botany).
But these slight differences will not justify us in considering the West African chiquera as a true species distinct from the Indian true chiquera; it is only a subspecies of the latter true species.
1851, [Johann Jakob] Kaup, “Descriptions of Some New Birds in the Museum of the Earl of Derby”, in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, part XIX, London: Printed for the Society; sold at their house in Hanover Square, and by Messrs. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster Row, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 42 - A subdivision of a species in other scientific disciplines.
Granular Augite. […] This subspecies of augite has been hitherto found principally in primitive rocks at Arendal in Norway, in several of the iron-mines, particularly that named Ulve-Grube.
1821, Robert Jameson, Manual of Mineralogy: Containing an Account of Simple Minerals, and also a Description and Arrangement of Mountain Rocks, Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable & Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson & Co., →OCLC, page 166
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(biology) a taxonomic group that is a division of a species; usually arises as a consequence of geographical isolation within a species
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*upó
- Proto-Italic*supo
- Latinsub
- Latinsub-
- Englishsub-
- Englishspecies
- Englishsubspecies
Translations
Afrikaans subspesie
- subspesierank in the classification of organisms
Arabic نُوَيْع
- نُوَيْع (nuwayʕ)rank in the classification of organisms
Basque azpiespezie
- azpiespezierank in the classification of organisms
Bengali উপপ্রজাতি
- উপপ্রজাতি (upoprojati)rank in the classification of organisms
Catalan subespècie
- subespècierank in the classification of organisms
Chinese Cantonese 亞種 /亚种
- 亞種 /亚种 (aa³ zung²)rank in the classification of organisms
Chinese Mandarin 亞種 /亚种
- 亞種 /亚种 (yàzhǒng)rank in the classification of organisms
Czech poddruh
- poddruhrank in the classification of organisms
Danish underart
- underartrank in the classification of organisms
Dutch ondersoort
- ondersoortrank in the classification of organisms
Esperanto subspecio
- subspeciorank in the classification of organisms
Estonian alamliik
- alamliikrank in the classification of organisms
Finnish alalaji
- alalajirank in the classification of organisms
French sous-espèce
- sous-espècerank in the classification of organisms
German Unterart, Rasse
- Unterartrank in the classification of organisms
- Rasserank in the classification of organisms
- Subspeziesrank in the classification of organisms
Greek υποείδος
- υποείδος (ypoeídos)rank in the classification of organisms
Hebrew תת־מין
- תת־מיןrank in the classification of organisms
Hungarian alfaj
- alfajrank in the classification of organisms
Indonesian upaspesies
- upaspesiesrank in the classification of organisms
Irish fospeiceas
- fospeiceasrank in the classification of organisms
Italian sottospecie
- sottospecierank in the classification of organisms
Japanese 亜種
- 亜種 (ashu)rank in the classification of organisms
Korean 아종
- 아종 (ajong)rank in the classification of organisms
Latin subspecies
- subspeciesrank in the classification of organisms
Latvian pasuga
- pasugarank in the classification of organisms
Lithuanian porūšis
- porūšisrank in the classification of organisms
Malay subspesies
- subspesiesrank in the classification of organisms
Norwegian Bokmål underart
- underartrank in the classification of organisms
Persian زیرگونه
- زیرگونهrank in the classification of organisms
Polish podgatunek
- podgatunekrank in the classification of organisms
Portuguese subespécie
- subespécierank in the classification of organisms
Romanian subspecie
- subspecierank in the classification of organisms
Russian подви́д
- подви́д (podvíd)rank in the classification of organisms
Slovak poddruh
- poddruhrank in the classification of organisms
Spanish subespecie
- subespecierank in the classification of organisms
Swedish underart
- underartrank in the classification of organisms
Tamil துணையினம்
- துணையினம் (tuṇaiyiṉam)rank in the classification of organisms
Thai ชนิดย่อย
- ชนิดย่อยrank in the classification of organisms
Turkish alt tür
- alt türrank in the classification of organisms
Ukrainian підвид
- підвид (pidvyd)rank in the classification of organisms
Vietnamese loài phụ, phân loài
- loài phụrank in the classification of organisms
- phân loàirank in the classification of organisms
Welsh isrywogaeth
- isrywogaethrank in the classification of organisms
Cite this entry
subspecies. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subspecies
“subspecies.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subspecies. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “subspecies,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subspecies.
Source: subspecies on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.