Standard Lemma guide

subspecies

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsʌbspiːʃiːz/
  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /-ʃɪz/
  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /-siːz/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A rank in the classification of organisms, below species.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, taxonomy

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A taxon at that rank, often indicated with trinomial nomenclature (such as Felis silvestris silvestris in zoology and Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii in botany).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, taxonomy

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A subdivision of a species in other scientific disciplines.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

(biology) a taxonomic group that is a division of a species; usually arises as a consequence of geographical isolation within a species

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: race

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: taxonomic group, taxonomic category, taxon

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Italic *supo Latin sub Latin sub-der. English sub- English species English subspecies From sub- + species.

Across languages

Translations

69 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: subspesie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Arabic: نُوَيْع (nuwayʕ) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Aragonese: subespecie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Armenian: ենթատեսակ (entʻatesak) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Azerbaijani: yarımnöv — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Basque: azpiespezie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Bengali: উপপ্রজাতি (upoprojati) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Bihari: उपप्रजाति — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Breton: isspesad — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Catalan: subespècie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Chinese Cantonese: 亞種 /亚种 (aa3 zung2) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Chinese: á-chéng — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Chinese Mandarin: 亞種 /亚种 (yàzhǒng) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Czech: poddruh — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Danish: underart — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Dutch: ondersoort — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Esperanto: subspecio — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Estonian: alamliik — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Finnish: alalaji — rank in the classification of organisms
  • French: sous-espèce — rank in the classification of organisms
  • West-Frisian: undersoarte — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Galician: subespecie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Georgian: ქვესახეობა (kvesaxeoba) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • German: Unterart — rank in the classification of organisms
  • German: Rasse — rank in the classification of organisms
  • German: Subspezies — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Greek: υποείδος (ypoeídos) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Hebrew: תת־מין — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Hungarian: alfaj — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Ilocano: subsebbangan — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Indonesian: upaspesies — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Interlingua: subespecie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Irish: fospeiceas — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Italian: sottospecie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Japanese: 亜種 (ashu) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Javanese: subspesies — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Korean: 아종 (ajong) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Latin: subspecies — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Latvian: pasuga — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Lithuanian: porūšis — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Low German: Ünneroort — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Low German: Raaß — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Low German: Rooß — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Macedonian: подвид (podvid) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Malay: subspesies — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Maltese: sottospeċi — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Norwegian Bokmål: underart — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: underart — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Persian: زیرگونه — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Polish: podgatunek — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Portuguese: subespécie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Romanian: subspecie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Russian: подви́д (podvíd) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Scots: subspecies — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Serbo-Croatian: pȍdvrsta — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Slovak: poddruh — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Slovene: podvrsta — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Spanish: subespecie — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Swedish: underart — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Tamil: துணையினம் (tuṇaiyiṉam) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Telugu: ఉపజాతి (upajāti) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Thai: ชนิดย่อย — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Turkish: alt tür — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Turkmen: kiçi görnüş — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Ukrainian: підвид (pidvyd) — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Vietnamese: loài phụ — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Vietnamese: phân loài — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Welsh: isrywogaeth — rank in the classification of organisms
  • Yakut: көрүҥ үөдүҥэ (körüŋ üödüŋe) — rank in the classification of organisms
Real reading context

subspecies in complete knowledge articles