INFERIOR • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Inferior

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/ɪnfˈɪriər/ Listen

adjective

Inferior adj.

1.

Lower in place, rank, value, excellence, etc.; less important or valuable; subordinate; underneath; beneath. "A thousand inferior and particular propositions." "The body, or, as some love to call it, our inferior nature." "Whether they are equal or inferior to my other poems, an author is the most improper judge."

2.

Poor or mediocre; as, an inferior quality of goods.

3.

(Astron.)

(a)

Nearer the sun than the earth is; as, the inferior or interior planets; an inferior conjunction of Mercury or Venus.

(b)

Below the horizon; as, the inferior part of a meridian.

4.

(Bot.)

(a)

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.

(b)

On the side of a flower which is next the bract; anterior.

5.

(Min.) Junior or subordinate in rank; as, an inferior officer.

Inferior court (Law), a court subject to the jurisdiction of another court known as the superior court, or higher court.

Inferior letter, Inferior figure (Print.), a small letter or figure standing at the bottom of the line (opposed to superior letter or figure), as in A2, Bn, 2 and n are inferior characters.

Inferior tide, the tide corresponding to the moon's transit of the meridian, when below the horizon.

noun

Inferior n. A person lower in station, rank, intellect, etc., than another. "A great person gets more by obliging his inferior than by disdaining him."

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Etymology of 'Inferior'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Inferior" Quotes from Famous Books

... an inferior official of his household, he remained in Rome, closely shut up in his palace, a spectacle to the world at large of ungovernable prejudice and foiled ambition. His cogitations, however, were very grateful, for he was working out in his intriguing brain a ready method ...

— The Tragedies of the Medici • Edgcumbe Staley

... return, his royal highness appeared in the uniform of a midshipman, and respectfully informed the admiral that the boat was ready. The Spaniard was surprised to see the son of his Britannic majesty acting in the capacity of an inferior officer, and emphatically observed to Admiral Digby, "Well does Great Britain merit the empire of the seas, when humble stations in her navy are filled by princes ...

— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - No. 291 - Supplement to Vol 10 • Various

... fleet went out of port the 25th of October, with strict orders from the general not to pass beyond the Pulo Cambylan, which is the farthest bounds of the kingdom of Malacca on the west. His reason was, that since they were so much inferior in strength to the enemy, who vastly outnumbered them in men and shipping, their glory consisted in driving them from off their coasts, and not in farther pursuit of them: That what hope soever we have in God, yet it becomes us not to tempt him, because ...

— The Works of John Dryden, Volume XVI. (of 18) - The Life of St. Francis Xavier • John Dryden

... noble aims! With them is God's almighty power and love, and his very presence is hidden from them by a film only. From this little islet they look out upon infinite worlds; heaven bends over them, and earth bears them up as though it would have them fly. How is it possible to remain inferior when we believe in God and know that this age is the right moment for all high and holy work? The yearning for guidance has never been so great. We have reached heights where the brain swims, and ...

— Education and the Higher Life • J. L. Spalding

... New Testament has ever been subjected, originated within a hundred years after it was composed; that Irenaeus and the African Fathers and the whole Western, with a portion of the Syrian Church, used far inferior manuscripts to those employed by Stunica, or Erasmus, or Stephens thirteen centuries later, when moulding the Textus Receptus.' Possibly this is an exaggeration, but no one will maintain that it is a very large exaggeration of ...

— The Gospels in the Second Century - An Examination of the Critical Part of a Work - Entitled 'Supernatural Religion' • William Sanday

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