subter

Latin

Alternative forms

• supter

Etymology

From sub (“under”) +‎ -ter.

The accusative from instrumental/ablative and accusative is from Proto-Indo-European *-teros used adverbially. The ablative is by analogy with sub.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsub.ter/, [ˈs̠ʊpt̪ɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsub.ter/, [ˈsubt̪er]

Adverb

subter (not comparable)

1. down below, underneath

   Supra et subter. ― Up above and down below.

Related terms

• subterius, the opposite of superius

Preposition

subter (+ accusative, ablative)

1. (with accusative) directly below an area that is under another; underneath, (figuratively) below inferior

   Subter pineta. ― Below the pine-woods.

   • c. 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.20:

     […] iram in pectore, cupiditatem supter praecordia locavit.

     • 1877 translation by Charles Duke Yonge

       […] anger in the breast, and desire under the præcordia.

2. (with ablative) underneath, (figuratively) below inferior

Derived terms

• subterfluō
• subterlabor
• subterfugiō

References

• “subter”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “subter”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• subter in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.