— subalternity , n.
/sub awl"teuhrn/ or, esp. for 3, 6, /sub"euhl terrn'/ , adj.
1. lower in rank; subordinate: a subaltern employee.
2. Brit. Mil. noting a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.
3. Logic.
a. denoting the relation of one proposition to another when the first proposition is implied by the second but the second is not implied by the first.
b. (in Aristotelian logic) denoting the relation of a particular proposition to a universal proposition having the same subject, predicate, and quality.
c. of or pertaining to a proposition having either of these relations to another.
n.
4. a person who has a subordinate position.
5. Brit. Mil. a commissioned officer below the rank of captain.
6. Logic. a subaltern proposition.
[ 1575-85; subalternus, equiv. to sub- SUB- + alternus ALTERNATE ]