Standard Lemma guide

subunit

noun · 3 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.

  • UK: /sʌbˈjuːnɪt/
  • CMU ARPABET: S AH2 B Y UW1 N IH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any subdivision of a larger unit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A protein subunit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, microbiology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a monetary unit that is valued at a fraction (usually one hundredth) of the basic monetary unit

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fractional monetary unit

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: monetary unit

Narrower terms: cent, centesimo, centimo, centavo, centime, fils, sen, ore, piaster, piastre, penny, paisa

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: subunitat — subdivision of a larger unit
  • Finnish: alayksikkö — subdivision of a larger unit
  • Finnish: aliyksikkö — subdivision of a larger unit
  • Northern Kurdish: binebeş — subdivision of a larger unit
  • Polish: podjednostka — subdivision of a larger unit
  • Portuguese: subunidade — subdivision of a larger unit
  • Russian: субъедини́ца (subʺjediníca) — subdivision of a larger unit