inferior
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- inferiour (obsolete)
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower in situation or place”), comparative of īnferus (“below, underneath”).
Pronunciation edit
- enPR: ĭnfîrēər
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪnˈfɪə.ɹi.ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɪnˈfɪɹ.i.ɚ/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪəɹiə(ɹ)
Adjective edit
inferior (comparative more inferior, superlative most inferior)
- Lower in rank, status, or quality.
- Anna had always felt inferior to her brother due to poor school grades.
- The pathological liar was morally inferior to his much nicer constituents.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Preface”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- Whether they are equal or inferior to my other poems, an author is the most improper judge.
- Of low rank, standard or quality.
- an inferior officer
- (law) (of a court or tribunal) Susceptible to having its decisions overturned by a higher court.
- (economics) Denoting goods or services which are in greater demand during a recession than in a boom, for example second-hand clothes.
- Located below:
- (anatomy) Situated further below (another part of the body), a direction that in humans corresponds to caudad.
- (zoology) Situated in a relatively low posterior or ventral position in a quadrupedal body.
- (botany) Situated below some other organ (said of a calyx when free from the ovary, and therefore below it, or of an ovary with an adherent and therefore inferior calyx).
- (botany) On the side of a flower which is next to the bract.
- Synonym: anterior
- (typography) Printed in subscript.
- an inferior figure or letter
- (astronomy) Below the horizon.
- the inferior part of a meridian
- (astronomy) Nearer to the Sun than the Earth is.
- the inferior or interior planets; an inferior conjunction of Mercury or Venus
Usage notes edit
Inferior and superior are generally followed by to; than is seen sometimes, but is viewed as wrong because than requires a grammatical comparative, not a notional one.
Synonyms edit
- See also Thesaurus: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 edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun edit
inferior (plural inferiors)
- A person of lower rank, stature, or ability to another.
- Antonym: superior
- As you are my inferior, I can tell you to do anything I want.
- (printing) An inferior letter, figure, or symbol.
Translations edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
References edit
- “inferior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “inferior”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “inferior”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “inferior”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams edit
Catalan edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin īnferiōrem.
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): (Central) [iɱ.fə.ɾiˈor]
- IPA(key): (Balearic) [iɱ.fə.ɾiˈo]
- IPA(key): (Valencian) [iɱ.fe.ɾiˈoɾ]
Adjective edit
inferior m or f (masculine and feminine plural inferiors)
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “inferior” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “inferior”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “inferior” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “inferior” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
German edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower, inferior”), the comparative of īnferus (“low, nether, underground”).
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Adjective edit
inferior (strong nominative masculine singular inferiorer, not comparable)
- subordinate, secondary
- (of people) inferior
- sich inferior fühlen ― to feel inferior
- substandard, bad
Declension edit
Further reading edit
Latin edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /inˈfe.ri.or/, [ĩːˈfɛriɔr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /inˈfe.ri.or/, [iɱˈfɛːrior]
Adjective edit
īnferior (neuter īnferius); third declension
- comparative degree of īnferus; lower in situation or place
- Subsequent, later, latter in time or succession
- Inferior or lower in quality, rank, or number
- 43 BCE – c. 17 CE, Ovid, Fasti 4.861-862:
- et quotiēns steterīs domitō sublīmis in orbe,
omnia sint numerīs īnferiōra tuīs.- And whenever you will stand exalted for having conquered the world,
may everything be lower than your shoulders!
(The poet foretells the eventual dominion of the Roman Empire now that Romulus has founded the city of Rome.)
- And whenever you will stand exalted for having conquered the world,
- et quotiēns steterīs domitō sublīmis in orbe,
Inflection edit
Third-declension comparative 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”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “inferior”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- inferior in Gaffiot, 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 posteriores or inferiores
- 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 posteriores or inferiores
Occitan edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (Béarn) (file)
Adjective edit
inferior m (feminine singular inferiora, masculine plural inferiors, feminine plural inferioras)
Portuguese edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin īnferiōrem.
Pronunciation edit
- Hyphenation: in‧fe‧ri‧or
Adjective edit
inferior m or f (plural inferiores)
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French inférieur, from Latin inferior.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
inferior m or n (feminine singular inferioară, masculine plural inferiori, feminine and neuter plural inferioare)
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
inferior m or f (masculine and feminine plural inferiores)
- 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”, in El 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 categorías inferiores.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “inferior”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014