Standard Lemma guide

substitution

noun · 6 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌsʌb.stɪˈtjuː.ʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /ˌsʌb.stɪˈtu.ʃən/
  • rhymes with -uːʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: S AH2 B S T IH0 T UW1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of substituting or the state of being substituted.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • In this football tournament, three substitutions can be made during the match.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: commutation

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A substitute or replacement.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Gary is off this weekend, so Jeff will be his substitution.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, especially, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The expansion of the lexicon of a language by native means in correspondence to a foreign term.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: loan

5

noun

Meaning 5

the act of putting one thing or person in the place of another:

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he sent Smith in for Jones but the substitution came too late to help

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: exchange, commutation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: change

Narrower terms: replacement, replacing, subrogation, weaning, ablactation

6

noun

Meaning 6

an event in which one thing is substituted for another

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the replacement of lost blood by a transfusion of donor blood

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: permutation, transposition, replacement, switch

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: variation, fluctuation

History

Etymology

From Middle French substitution, from Late Latin substitutio.

Across languages

Translations

55 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: substitució — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Chinese Mandarin: 替代 (tìdài) — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Chinese Mandarin: 代入 (dàirù) — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Dutch: substitutie — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Esperanto: anstataŭigo — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Finnish: korvaaminen — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Finnish: tuuraus — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Finnish: sijaisuus — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • French: remplacement — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Galician: substitución — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Galician: cambio — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • German: Ersatz — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • German: Ersetzen — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Gothic: 𐌹𐌽𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (inmaideins) — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Ido: substituco — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Italian: sostituzione — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Japanese: 代入 (dainyū) — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Japanese: 置換 (chikan) — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Malay: penggantian — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Malay: substitusi — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Māori: kakapinga — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Norwegian Bokmål: substitusjon — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: substitusjon — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Occitan: substitucion — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Portuguese: substituição — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Russian: заме́на (zaména) — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Russian: подстано́вка (podstanóvka) — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Spanish: sustitución — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Spanish: cambio — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Swedish: substitution — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Swedish: utbyte — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Swedish: ersättning — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Ottoman Turkish: تعویض (taʼviz) — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Ottoman Turkish: عوض (ʼivâz) — the act of substituting or the state of being substituted
  • Dutch: substitutie — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Finnish: substituutio — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Finnish: korvautuminen — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • French: réaction de substitution — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • German: Substitution — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • German: Substituierung — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Indonesian: substitusi — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Irish: malartaíocht — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Malay: penukargantian — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Malay: substitusi — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Norwegian Bokmål: substitusjon — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: substitusjon — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Portuguese: substituição — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Swedish: substitution — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Tagalog: paghuhulip — the replacement of an atom, or group of atoms, in a compound, with another
  • Finnish: substituutio — expansion of the lexicon by native means in correspondence to a foreign term
  • German: Ersetzung — expansion of the lexicon by native means in correspondence to a foreign term
  • German: lexikalische Ersetzung — expansion of the lexicon by native means in correspondence to a foreign term
  • German: Substitution — expansion of the lexicon by native means in correspondence to a foreign term
  • Swedish: utbyte — expansion of the lexicon by native means in correspondence to a foreign term
  • Swedish: substitution — expansion of the lexicon by native means in correspondence to a foreign term
Real reading context

substitution in complete knowledge articles