different between petty vs subordinate

English

Etymology

From Middle English pety, from Old French peti, petit. Doublet of petit. The disparaging meaning developed over the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?ti/
• Homophone: Petty
  • (General American) IPA^(key): [?p???i]
  • Homophones: Petty, pedi
• Rhymes: -?ti

Adjective

petty (comparative pettier or more petty, superlative pettiest or most petty)

1. (obsolete except in set phrases) Little, small, secondary in rank or importance.

   petty officer, petty cash
2. Insignificant, trifling, or inconsiderable.

   a petty fault
3. Narrow-minded, small-minded.

4. Begrudging in nature, especially over insignificant matters.

   That corporation is only slightly pettier than they are greedy, and they are overdue to reap the consequences.

Synonyms

• (little, unimportant): See Thesaurus:insignificant
• (begrudging): grudgeful, grudging

Antonyms

• (little): See Thesaurus:big
• (begrudging): See Thesaurus:kindly
• (small-minded): broad-minded

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• quibble

Noun

petty (plural petties)

1. (usually in the plural, obsolete) A little schoolboy, either in grade or size.
2. (historical) A class or school for young schoolboys.
3. (dialect, euphemistic) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.

Synonyms

• (school for young schoolboys): ABC, petty school
• (class for young schoolboys): petty form
• (outhouse): See Thesaurus:outhouse

See also

• Petty France

References

• "petty, adj. and n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary (2005), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• “petty”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• petty in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• petty in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Hungarian

Alternative forms

• pötty

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?p?c?]
• Hyphenation: petty
• Rhymes: -?c?

Noun

petty (plural pettyek)

1. dot, spot, fleck, speck

   Synonyms: folt, pont, paca, pecsét, csepp, (on the face) szepl?

Derived terms

(Expressions):

• hétpettyes katicabogár (“seven-spot[ted] ladybird/ladybug”)

Declension

Further reading

• petty in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN

English

Etymology

From Middle English subordinat, from Medieval Latin sub?rdin?tus, past participle of sub?rdin?re, from sub- + ?rdin?re (“to order”).

Pronunciation

Adjective and Noun

• (UK) enPR: s?-bô?d?n-?t, IPA^(key): /s??b??d?n?t/
• (US) enPR: s?-bôr?d?n-?t, IPA^(key): /s??b??d?n?t/

Verb

• (UK) enPR: s?-bô?d?n-?t, IPA^(key): /s??b??d?ne?t/
• (US) enPR: s?-bôr?d?n-?t, IPA^(key): /s??b??d?ne?t/

Adjective

subordinate (comparative more subordinate, superlative most subordinate)

1. Placed in a lower class, rank, or position.
   • 1695, John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies, especially Minerals, &c

     The several kinds […] and subordinate species of each are easily known.

   Synonym: lesser

   Antonyms: superior, superordinate

2. Submissive or inferior to, or controlled by authority.
   • November 9, 1662, Robert South, Of the Creation of Man in the Image of God

     It was subordinate, not enslaved, to the understanding.

   Antonym: insubordinate

3. (grammar, of a clause, not comparable) dependent on and either modifying or complementing the main clause

   Synonym: dependent

   Antonyms: independent, main

4. Descending in a regular series.

Translations

Noun

subordinate (plural subordinates)

2. (countable) One who is subordinate.

   Synonyms: inferior, junior, report, underling, understrapper

   Antonyms: boss, commander, leader, manager, superior, supervisor

Translations

Verb

subordinate (third-person singular simple present subordinates, present participle subordinating, simple past and past participle subordinated)

1. (transitive) To make subservient.
2. (transitive) To treat as of less value or importance.

   Synonyms: belittle, denigrate

3. (transitive, finance) To make of lower priority in order of payment in bankruptcy.

Translations

See also

• inferior

Anagrams

• turbinadoes

Italian

Adjective

subordinate

1. feminine plural of subordinato

Verb

subordinate

1. second-person plural present indicative of subordinare
2. second-person plural imperative of subordinare
3. feminine plural past participle of subordinare

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /su.bo?r.di?na?.te/, [s??bo?rd???nä?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /su.bor.di?na.te/, [sub?rd?i?n??t??]

Verb

sub?rdin?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of sub?rdin?