Definition of "subordinate"

subordinate

/səˈbɔːdɪnət/

adjective
comparative more subordinate, superlative most subordinate
1. Placed in a lower class, rank, or position.
  Quotations
  The several kinds […] and subordinate species of each are easily known.
  1695, John Woodward, “(please specify the page)”, in An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth: And Terrestrial Bodies, Especially Minerals: […], London: […] Ric[hard] Wilkin […]
2. Submissive or inferior to, or controlled by authority.
  Quotations
  It was subordinate, not enslaved, to the understanding.
  November 9, 1662, Robert South, Of the Creation of Man in the Image of God
3. (grammar, of a clause, not comparable) dependent on and either modifying or complementing the main clause
4. Descending in a regular series.
noun
plural subordinates
1. (countable) One who is subordinate.
verb
third-person singular simple present subordinates, present participle subordinating, simple past and past participle subordinated
1. (transitive) To make subservient.
2. (transitive) To treat as of less value or importance.
3. (transitive, finance) To make of lower priority in order of payment in bankruptcy.