— substrative, substratal , adj.
/sub"stray'teuhm, -strat'euhm, sub stray"teuhm, -strat"euhm/ , n. , pl. substrata /-stray'teuh, -strat'euh, -stray"teuh, -strat"euh/ , substratums .
1. something that is spread or laid under something else; a stratum or layer lying under another.
2. something that underlies or serves as a basis or foundation.
3. Agric. the subsoil.
4. Biol. the base or material on which a nonmotile organism lives or grows.
5. Philos. substance, considered as that which supports accidents or attributes.
6. Photog. a layer of material placed directly on a film or plate as a foundation for the sensitive emulsion.
7. Historical Ling. a set of features of a language traceable to the influence of an earlier language that it has replaced, esp. among a subjugated population: The French word for 80, quatre-vingts ( "four twenties" ), may reflect a Celtic substratum. Cf. superstratum .
[ 1625-35; ]