subsidiary

English

Etymology

From Middle French subsidiaire, from Latin subsidiarius (“belonging to a reserve”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sʌbˈsɪ.di.əɹ.i/, /sʌbˈsɪ.dəɹ.i/, /sʌbˈsɪ.d͡ʒəɹ.i/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

subsidiary (comparative more subsidiary, superlative most subsidiary)

1. Auxiliary or supplemental.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, Essays:

     chief ruler and principal head everywhere, not suffragant and subsidiary

   • May 1, 1823, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Difference between stories of dreams and ghosts […]

     They constituted a useful subsidiary testimony of another state of existence.

2. Secondary or subordinate.

   a subsidiary stream

   • 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court:

     By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.

3. Of or relating to a subsidy.

   subsidiary payments to an ally

   • 1836-1853, Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, History of England from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles, 1713-1783

     George the Second relied on his subsidiary treaties.

Derived terms

• subsidiary legislation

 

Related terms

• subsidiarity

 

Translations

auxiliary or supplemental

• Bulgarian: помощен (bg) (pomošten), спомагателен (bg) (spomagatelen)
• Danish: hjælpe-, subsidiær (legal. Used when prosecution seeks conviction based on more than one charge.)
• Finnish: lisä- (fi), täydentävä (fi)
• French: subsidiaire (fr)
• Georgian: დამხმარე (damxmare), დამატებითი (damaṭebiti)
• German: ergänzend (de), nebensächlich (de)
• Greek: επικουρικός (el) m (epikourikós), βοηθητικός (el) m (voïthitikós)
• Hungarian: járulékos (hu), kiegészítő (hu), kisegítő (hu)
• Norwegian: subsidiær (no)
• Portuguese: subsidiário (pt) m, subsidiária f
• Romanian: subsidiar (ro)
• Russian: вспомога́тельный (ru) (vspomogátelʹnyj), дополни́тельный (ru) (dopolnítelʹnyj)
• Swedish: subsidiär (sv)
• Turkish: iştirakî, tâbî, yan (tr)
• Welsh: atodol

secondary or subordinate

• Bulgarian: помощен (bg) (pomošten)
• Danish: datter-
• Finnish: sivu-, toissijainen (fi)
• French: secondaire (fr)
• Georgian: მეორადი (meoradi), მეორეხარისხოვანი (meorexarisxovani)
• German: Tochter-, subsidiär (de), untergeordnet (de), nachgeordnet (de)
• Greek: δευτερεύων (el) m (defterévon)
• Hungarian: al- (hu), mellék- (hu)
• Portuguese: subsidiário (pt)
• Romanian: subsidiar (ro)
• Russian: второстепенный (ru) (vtorostepennyj)
• Turkish: ikincil, tâlî

of or relating to a subsidy

• Finnish: avustus-, apu-, tuki-
• French: subsidiaire (fr)
• German: unterstützend (de)
• Hungarian: támogatási célú/jellegű
• Portuguese: subsidiário (pt)

Noun

subsidiary (plural subsidiaries)

1. A company owned by a parent company or a holding company, also called daughter company or sister company.
2. (music) A subordinate theme.
3. One who aids or supplies; an assistant.

Translations

company owned by a parent company or a holding company

• Bulgarian: дъщерна компания f (dǎšterna kompanija), филиал (bg) m (filial)
• Catalan: filial (ca) f
• Czech: dceřiná společnost f, dceřiný podnik
• Danish: datterselskab n
• Dutch: dochterbedrijf (nl) n, filiaal (nl) f
• Finnish: tytäryhtiö (fi)
• French: filiale (fr) f
• Georgian: შვილობილი კომპანია (švilobili ḳomṗania)
• German: Tochterunternehmen (de) n, Tochtergesellschaft (de) f, Tochterfirma (de) f, Tochter (de) f, Zweigunternehmen n, Zweigniederlassung f
• Greek: θυγατρική εταιρία f (thygatrikí etairía), παράρτημα (el) n (parártima)
• Hindi: समनुषंगी f (samnuṣaṅgī)
• Hungarian: leányvállalat (hu), fiók (hu)
• Icelandic: dótturfyrirtæki n
• Irish: fochomhlacht m
• Italian: filiale (it) f
• Japanese: 子会社 (ja) (こがいしゃ, kogaisha)
• Norwegian: datterselskap n
• Polish: spółka zależna (pl) f
• Portuguese: filial (pt) f, subsidiária f
• Romanian: companie subsidiară f, subsidiară f
• Russian: дочерняя компа́ния (ru) f (dočernjaja kompánija), до́чка (ru) f (dóčka)
• Serbo-Croatian: podružnica (sh) f
• Spanish: filial (es) f, subsidiaria f
• Swedish: dotterbolag (sv) n
• Tagalog: kubsamahan
• Turkish: bağlı kuruluş, bağlı şirket, tâbî şirket, yavru şirket

music: a subordinate theme

one who aids or supplies — see assistant,‎ supplier