Subsume
verb
To include or absorb something in something else, usually a large group or a category.
Small farmhouses were subsumed by big agricultural company.
Often appears as...
- subsume under
- subsume into
verb
To consider something as part of a general rule or principle.
The costs should be subsumed under the heading 'Office Expenses'.
Often appears as...
- subsume into a category
- subsume under a principle
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
verb
To include or absorb something in something else, usually a large group or a category.
Small farmhouses were subsumed by big agricultural company.
Often appears as...
- subsume under
- subsume into
verb
To consider something as part of a general rule or principle.
The costs should be subsumed under the heading 'Office Expenses'.
Often appears as...
- subsume into a category
- subsume under a principle
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Absorption Concept
Think of 'subsume' as a way to show that one thing is becoming a part of something bigger.
Her ideas were quickly subsumed into the project's overall concept.
Pro Tip 2/3Broad Inclusion
'Subsume' often implies a broad or general category is including smaller, more specific items.
All these various flavors are subsumed under the category of ice cream.
Pro Tip 3/3Implied Loss
Using 'subsume' can suggest that the individual characteristics are lost within the larger group.
Independent boutiques were subsumed by the retail giant.
Compare with
assimilatecompriseconsolidatorcontainembodyencompassincludeintegrable
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Video examples
What if we ended the...
I have been a public defender for over half my life, and I have stood by and watched thousands of clients as they were dragged into those jail cells because they didn't have enough money to pay bail. I have watched as questions of justice were subsumed by questions of money,
Video examples
How great design happens...
people inside be subsumed by it so that was precisely the message that we created celebrating people over the institution it is a place where people from all kinds of different backgrounds come together and collaborate and that's
Video examples
What if we ended the...
I have been a public defender for over half my life, and I have stood by and watched thousands of clients as they were dragged into those jail cells because they didn't have enough money to pay bail. I have watched as questions of justice were subsumed by questions of money,
Video examples
How great design happens...
people inside be subsumed by it so that was precisely the message that we created celebrating people over the institution it is a place where people from all kinds of different backgrounds come together and collaborate and that's
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Terry Pratchett
English Author
The most watched programme on the BBC, after the news, is probably 'Doctor Who.' What has happened is that science fiction has been subsumed into modern literature. There are grandparents out there who speak Klingon, who are quite capable of holding down a job. No one would think twice now about a parallel universe.
Quote examples
Dan Smith
British Musician
Most friendship groups will have someone who starts a new relationship, and you just don't see them for four months. And that's always kind of sad, almost like an inverted break up. I guess the ideal situation is that whoever the new partner is can be subsumed into the friendship group.
Quote examples
James Watkins
English Director
If you think about the traditional mafia stories we grew up on, it is always about the death of criminal organisations - things like the 'Sopranos' - the last vestiges of once proud families subsumed by the modern era.
Quote examples
Lawrence M. Krauss
American Physicist
There are areas of philosophy that are important, but I think of them as being subsumed by other fields. In the case of descriptive philosophy, you have literature or logic, which, in my view, is really mathematics.
Quote examples
Mira Nair
Indian Director
I look for the humanity in people, however big the politics or oppressive the situation may be, whether it's subsumed within a human being or between two human beings. I want to help us hold a mirror to ourselves.
Quote examples
Leo Strauss
German Philosopher
God's reasons for communicating with man must be subsumed under his reason for communicating to him his account of his creation of the world - and man.
Quote examples
Evan Bayh
American Politician
Every once in a while, an election comes along, and who you are and what you believe gets subsumed in a larger tide. It just happens.
Quote examples
Nick Woodman
American Businessman
The smartphone killed the traditional camera industry because it subsumed all the functions of a traditional camera.
Quote examples
James Murphy
American Musician
I don't want to be subsumed into popular culture and played on the radio next to some garbage music.
Quote examples
Katherine Dunn
American Novelist
Only one sport can subsume my life at a time.
Quote examples
Terry Pratchett
English Author
The most watched programme on the BBC, after the news, is probably 'Doctor Who.' What has happened is that science fiction has been subsumed into modern literature. There are grandparents out there who speak Klingon, who are quite capable of holding down a job. No one would think twice now about a parallel universe.
Quote examples
Dan Smith
British Musician
Most friendship groups will have someone who starts a new relationship, and you just don't see them for four months. And that's always kind of sad, almost like an inverted break up. I guess the ideal situation is that whoever the new partner is can be subsumed into the friendship group.
Quote examples
James Watkins
English Director
If you think about the traditional mafia stories we grew up on, it is always about the death of criminal organisations - things like the 'Sopranos' - the last vestiges of once proud families subsumed by the modern era.
Quote examples
Lawrence M. Krauss
American Physicist
There are areas of philosophy that are important, but I think of them as being subsumed by other fields. In the case of descriptive philosophy, you have literature or logic, which, in my view, is really mathematics.
Quote examples
Mira Nair
Indian Director
I look for the humanity in people, however big the politics or oppressive the situation may be, whether it's subsumed within a human being or between two human beings. I want to help us hold a mirror to ourselves.
Quote examples
Leo Strauss
German Philosopher
God's reasons for communicating with man must be subsumed under his reason for communicating to him his account of his creation of the world - and man.
Quote examples
Evan Bayh
American Politician
Every once in a while, an election comes along, and who you are and what you believe gets subsumed in a larger tide. It just happens.
Quote examples
Nick Woodman
American Businessman
The smartphone killed the traditional camera industry because it subsumed all the functions of a traditional camera.
Quote examples
James Murphy
American Musician
I don't want to be subsumed into popular culture and played on the radio next to some garbage music.
Quote examples
Katherine Dunn
American Novelist
Only one sport can subsume my life at a time.
Example 1 of 10
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