inferior

Alternative forms

• inferiour (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower, inferior”), the comparative of īnferus (“low, nether, underground”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭnfîrēər, (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɪ(ə)ɹiɚ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɪəɹɪə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəriə(r)

Adjective

inferior (comparative more inferior, superlative most inferior)

1. of lower quality

   Anna had always felt inferior to her brother due to poor school grades.

   • Dryden

     Whether they are equal or inferior to my other poems, an author is the most improper judge.

2. of lower rank

   an inferior officer

3. located below
   1. (typography) Printed in subscript.

      an inferior figure or letter

4. (botany) Situated below some other organ; said of a calyx when free from the ovary, and therefore below it, or of an ovary with an adherent and therefore inferior calyx.
5. (botany) On the side of a flower which is next to the bract; anterior.
6. (astronomy) Nearer to the Sun than the Earth is.

   the inferior or interior planets; an inferior conjunction of Mercury or Venus

7. (astronomy) Below the horizon.

   the inferior part of a meridian

Noun

inferior (plural inferiors)

1. a person of lower stature to another

   As you are my inferior, I can tell you to do anything I want.

Further reading

• inferior in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• inferior in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• inferior at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• fire iron, fireiron

Adjective

inferior (masculine and feminine plural inferiors)

1. inferior
2. lower

Etymology

Comparative form of īnferus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /inˈfe.ri.or/, [ĩːˈfɛ.ri.ɔr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /inˈfe.ri.or/, [inˈfeː.ri.or]

Adjective

īnferior (neuter īnferius); third declension

1. lower
2. below
3. subsequent, later, latter

References

• inferior in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• inferior in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• inferior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • later writers: scriptores aetate posteriores or inferiores
    
  • to gain a weak case by clever pleading: causam inferiorem dicendo reddere superiorem (λόγον κρείττω ποιειν) (Brut. 8. 30)
    
  • to be defeated in fight, lose the battle: proelio vinci, superari, inferiorem, victum discedere
    
  • to come off victorious: superiorem (opp. inferiorem), victorem (proelio, pugna) discedere
    

Etymology

From Latin inferior.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.fɨˈɾjoɾ/
• Hyphenation: in‧fe‧ri‧or

Adjective

inferior m, f (plural inferiores, comparable)

1. inferior

Etymology

From Latin inferior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /infeˈɾjoɾ/, [ĩɱfeˈɾjoɾ]

Adjective

inferior (plural inferiores)

1. inferior (of lower quality)
2. inferior (of lower rank)
3. inferior (below)

Further reading

• “inferior” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.