English
subaltern
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈsʌbəltɚn/
Adjective

subaltern

  1. Of a lower rank or position; inferior or secondary; especially (military rank) ranking as a junior officer, below the rank of captain.
    a subaltern officer
  2. (logic) Asserting only a part of what is asserted in a related proposition.
Translations Noun

subaltern (plural subalterns)

  1. A subordinate.
  2. (British) A commissioned officer having a rank below that of captain; a lieutenant or second lieutenant.
  3. (logic) A subaltern proposition; a proposition implied by a universal proposition. For example, some crows are black is a subaltern of all crows are black.
  4. (social science, literary theory) A member of a group that is socially, politically and geographically outside of the hegemonic power structure of the colony and of the colonial homeland.
    • 2012, Aparajita De, ‎Amrita Ghosh, ‎Ujjwal Jana, Subaltern Vision: A Study in Postcolonial Indian English Text (page 109)
      In Ghosh's novel, a canonical western scientist is pitted against a counterscientific group of native folk-medicine practitioners led by Mangala, a subaltern in every conceivable meaning of the term.


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