English
sub-
Sub- comes from Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *upó.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upó‘up; from below’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*supo‘under’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsub‘under, beneath, below’
- Englishearliest quotation 2020sub-
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upó‘up; from below’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*supo‘under’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsub‘under, beneath, below’
- Englishearliest quotation 2020sub-
Earliest quotation: 2020, Lindsay del Valle, 36 Spanish Prefixes That Will Increase Your Vocabulary Times: “Contrarily, the prefix “sub-” doesn’t change meaning so much…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up’
up, above, upper, sum, upward, oft, hypo, 9 more
through Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’
Today it means
prefix Under, beneath.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *upó / sub-