SUBDOMINANT


Meaning of SUBDOMINANT in English

I. “+ adjective

Etymology: sub- + dominant

1. : incompletely dominant

2. : being or having the quality of a subdominant

subdominant chords

subdominant life-forms in an ecological community

II. noun

Etymology: sub- + dominant n.

: something dominant to an inferior or partial degree: as

a. : the fourth musical degree of the major or minor scale (as F in the scale of C)

b. : a species or life-form that is ecologically important but subordinate in influence to the dominants of a community or is characteristic of a structural subunit or partial area of a community

shrubs may be prominent subdominants in a forest community

sometimes forbs behave as seasonal subdominants in grasslands

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.