Substraction

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Subtraction. countable, uncountable

    "The plasterer doth make his figures by addition, and the carver by substraction."

Example

More examples

"The plasterer doth make his figures by addition, and the carver by substraction."

Etymology

From Middle French substraction (compare modern French soustraction), from Old French substraction, from Medieval Latin substractio, derived from Late Latin substractus. Ultimately from Latin subtraho (“to pull out from under; to remove, to subtract”). The use by non-native speakers arises by analogy with words such as French soustraction and Spanish sustracción.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.