inferior
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- inferiour(obsolete)
Etymology
[edit]Borrowed fromLatinīnferior(“lower in situation or place”),comparative ofīnferus(“below, underneath”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- enPR:ĭnfîrēər
- (Received Pronunciation)IPA(key):/ɪnˈfɪə.ɹi.ə/
- (General American)IPA(key):/ɪnˈfɪɹ.i.ɚ/
Audio(General American): (file) - Rhymes:-ɪəɹiə(ɹ)
Adjective
[edit]inferior(comparativemoreinferior,superlativemostinferior)
- Lowerinrank,status,orquality.
- Anna had always feltinferiorto her brother due to poor school grades.
- The pathological liar was morallyinferiorto his much nicer constituents.
- 1700,[John] Dryden,“Preface”, inFables Ancient and Modern;[…],London:[…]Jacob Tonson,[…],→OCLC:
- Whether they are equal orinferiorto my other poems, an author is the most improper judge.
- Of lowrank,standardorquality.
- aninferiorofficer
- (law)(of acourtortribunal)Susceptibleto having its decisionsoverturnedby a higher court.
- (economics)Denotinggoodsorserviceswhich are in greaterdemandduring arecessionthan in aboom,for examplesecond-handclothes.
- Locatedbelow:
- (anatomy)Situated furtherbelow(another part of the body), a direction that in humans corresponds tocaudad.
- (zoology)Situated in a relatively lowposteriororventralposition in aquadrupedalbody.
- (botany)Situated below some otherorgan(said of acalyxwhen free from theovary,and therefore below it, or of an ovary with anadherentand therefore inferior calyx).
- (botany)On the side of aflowerwhich is next to thebract.
- Synonym:anterior
- (typography)Printed insubscript.
- aninferiorfigure or letter
- (astronomy)Below thehorizon.
- theinferiorpart of a meridian
- (astronomy)Nearer to theSunthan theEarthis.
- theinferioror interior planets; aninferiorconjunction of Mercury or Venus
Usage notes
[edit]Inferiorandsuperiorare generally followed byto;thanis seen sometimes, but is viewed as wrong becausethanrequires a grammatical comparative, not a notional one.
Synonyms
[edit]- See alsoThesaurus:bad
Antonyms
[edit]Coordinate terms
[edit]- (dentistry location adjectives)anterior,apical,apicocoronal,axial,buccal,buccoapical,buccocervical,buccogingival,buccolabial,buccolingual,bucco-occlusal,buccopalatal,cervical,coronal,coronoapical,distal,distoapical,distobuccal,distocervical,distocoronal,distofacial,distogingival,distoincisal,distolingual,disto-occlusal,distoclusal,distocclusal,distopalatal,facial,gingival,incisal,incisocervical,inferior,labial,lingual,linguobuccal,linguo-occlusal,mandibular,maxillary,mesial,mesioapical,mesiobuccal,mesiocervical,mesiocoronal,mesiodistal,mesiofacial,mesioincisal,mesiogingival,mesiolingual,mesio-occlusal,mesioclusal,mesiocclusal,mesiopalatal,occlusal,palatal,posterior,proximal,superior,vestibular(Category:en:Dentistry)[edit]
Derived terms
[edit]- anterior inferior cerebellar artery
- anteroinferior
- inferior alveolar artery
- inferior alveolar nerve
- inferior cervical ganglion
- inferior colliculus
- inferior court
- inferior dental artery
- inferior ganglion
- inferior good
- inferiority
- inferiorize
- inferior laryngeal artery
- inferior laryngeal nerve
- inferiorly
- inferior mesenteric artery
- inferiormost
- inferior nasal concha
- inferiorness
- inferior oblique
- inferior oblique muscle
- inferior orbital fissure
- inferior petrosal sinus
- inferior pharyngeal constrictor
- inferior planet
- inferior rectus
- inferior sagittal sinus
- inferior thyroid artery
- inferior vena cava
- infero-
- lateroinferior
- noninferior
- posterior inferior cerebellar artery
- posteroinferior
- superoinferior
Related terms
[edit]Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
[edit]inferior(pluralinferiors)
- A person of lowerrank,stature,orabilityto another.
- Antonym:superior
- As you are myinferior,I can tell you to do anything I want.
- (printing)Aninferiorletter,figure,orsymbol.
Translations
[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
References
[edit]- “inferior”,inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
- “inferior”,inMerriam-Webster Online Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:Merriam-Webster,1996–present.
- “inferior”,inThe Century Dictionary[…],New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,1911,→OCLC.
- “inferior”,inOneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
[edit]Catalan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]inferiormorf(masculine and feminine pluralinferiors)
Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “inferior”inDiccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició,Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “inferior”,inGran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana,Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana,2024
- “inferior”inDiccionari normatiu valencià,Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “inferior”inDiccionari català-valencià-balear,Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]BorrowedfromLatinīnferior(“lower, inferior”),the comparative ofīnferus(“low, nether, underground”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Adjective
[edit]inferior(strong nominative masculine singularinferiorer,not comparable)
- subordinate,secondary
- (of people)inferior
- sichinferiorfühlen―to feelinferior
- substandard,bad
Declension
[edit]Further reading
[edit]Latin
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (Classical Latin)IPA(key):/inˈfe.ri.or/,[ĩːˈfɛriɔr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA(key):/inˈfe.ri.or/,[iɱˈfɛːrior]
Adjective
[edit]īnferior(neuterīnferius);third declension
- comparative degreeofīnferus;lowerinsituationorplace
- Subsequent,later,latterintimeorsuccession
- Inferiororlowerinquality,rank,ornumber
- 8CE,Ovid,Fasti4.861–862:
- et quotiēns steterīs domitō sublīmis in orbe,
omnia sint numerīsīnferiōratuīs.- And whenever you will stand exalted for having conquered the world,
may everything belowerthan your shoulders!
(The poet foretells the eventual dominion of theRoman Empirenow thatRomulushas founded the city ofRome.)
- And whenever you will stand exalted for having conquered the world,
- et quotiēns steterīs domitō sublīmis in orbe,
Inflection
[edit]Third-declensioncomparative adjective.
Number | Singular | Plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case / Gender | Masc./Fem. | Neuter | Masc./Fem. | Neuter | |
Nominative | īnferior | īnferius | īnferiōrēs | īnferiōra | |
Genitive | īnferiōris | īnferiōrum | |||
Dative | īnferiōrī | īnferiōribus | |||
Accusative | īnferiōrem | īnferius | īnferiōrēs | īnferiōra | |
Ablative | īnferiōre | īnferiōribus | |||
Vocative | īnferior | īnferius | īnferiōrēs | īnferiōra |
Related terms
[edit]- īnfimus(superlative)
Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- “inferior”,inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary,Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “inferior”,inCharlton T. Lewis (1891)An Elementary Latin Dictionary,New York: Harper & Brothers
- inferiorinGaffiot, Félix (1934)Dictionnaire illustré latin-français,Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894)Latin Phrase-Book[1],London:Macmillan and Co.
- later writers:scriptores aetate posterioresorinferiores
- to gain a weak case by clever pleading:causam inferiorem dicendo reddere superiorem(λόγον κρείττω ποιειν) (Brut. 8. 30)
- to be defeated in fight, lose the battle:proelio vinci, superari, inferiorem, victum discedere
- to come off victorious:superiorem(opp.inferiorem),victorem (proelio, pugna) discedere
- later writers:scriptores aetate posterioresorinferiores
Occitan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]inferiorm(feminine singularinferiora,masculine pluralinferiors,feminine pluralinferioras)
Portuguese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]
- Hyphenation:in‧fe‧ri‧or
Adjective
[edit]inferiormorf(pluralinferiores)
Romanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]BorrowedfromFrenchinférieur,fromLatininferior.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]inferiormorn(feminine singularinferioară,masculine pluralinferiori,feminine and neuter pluralinferioare)
Declension
[edit]singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | inferior | inferioară | inferiori | inferioare | ||
definite | inferiorul | inferioara | inferiorii | inferioarele | |||
genitive/ dative |
indefinite | inferior | inferioare | inferiori | inferioare | ||
definite | inferiorului | inferioarei | inferiorilor | inferioarelor |
Related terms
[edit]Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]inferiormorf(masculine and feminine pluralinferiores)
- inferior(of lower quality)
- inferior(of lower rank)
- inferior;lower(below)
- 20 August 2023,Jordi Quixano, “España se hace inmortal con la conquista de su primer Mundial femenino”, inEl País[2]:
- España derribó la puerta de la eternidad para hacerse inmortal, para ponerse el laurel de oro y diamantes, para significarse al fin como la mejor del mundo, cosa que llevaba años haciendo en las categoríasinferiores.
- (pleaseadd an English translationof this quotation)
Antonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “inferior”,inDiccionario de la lengua española,Vigésima tercera edición,Real Academia Española,2014
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪəɹiə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɪəɹiə(ɹ)/4 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Law
- en:Economics
- en:Anatomy
- en:Zoology
- en:Botany
- en:Typography
- en:Astronomy
- en:Dentistry
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Printing
- en:People
- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan adjectives
- Catalan epicene adjectives
- German terms borrowed from Latin
- German terms derived from Latin
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German adjectives
- German uncomparable adjectives
- German terms with usage examples
- Latin 4-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin comparative adjectives
- Latin terms with quotations
- Latin words in Meissner and Auden's phrasebook
- Occitan terms derived from Latin
- Occitan terms with audio links
- Occitan lemmas
- Occitan adjectives
- Portuguese terms borrowed from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese 4-syllable words
- Portuguese 3-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese adjectives
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish 3-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/oɾ
- Rhymes:Spanish/oɾ/3 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- Spanish epicene adjectives
- Spanish terms with quotations