subunit

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *upó

Proto-Italic *supo

Latin sub

Latin sub-der.

English sub-

English unit

English subunit

From sub- + unit.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sʌbˈjuːnɪt/

Noun

subunit (plural subunits)

1. Any subdivision of a larger unit.
   • 1961 October, “New Metropolitan Line train sets enter service”, in Trains Illustrated, page 622:

     The bogies are built up of welded sub-units which are stress-relieved before assembly by riveting.

   • 2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Terminal Three (Legendary):

     Interchange manipulation comparisons showed that all subunits are still active, if at slightly lower rates.

   • 2023 August 14, Brandon Lyttle, “Hololive group UMISEA releases new single Ocean Wave Party☆Live”, in Niche Gamer‎^[1], archived from the original on 26 September 2023:

     UMISEA is a subunit in Hololive featuring idols with nautical themes. The group debuted in 2021 as the first JP+EN collab subunit. Chloe was added to the roster after holox debuted.

2. (biochemistry) A protein subunit.

Derived terms

• immunosubunit
• intersubunit
• intrasubunit
• multisubunit

Translations

subdivision of a larger unit

• Catalan: subunitat f
• Finnish: alayksikkö, aliyksikkö
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: binebeş (ku) m

• Polish: podjednostka f
• Portuguese: subunidade (pt) f
• Russian: субъедини́ца (ru) f (subʺjediníca)