subdue

English

Etymology

From Middle English subdewen, subduen, sodewen, from Old French souduire, from Latin subdūcō (“to draw away”), perhaps influenced by subdō (“to subdue, subject”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /səbˈdu/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /səbˈdjuː/, /səbˈdʒuː/, /sʌb-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

subdue (third-person singular simple present subdues, present participle subduing, simple past and past participle subdued)

1. (transitive) To overcome, quieten, or bring under control.

   Synonyms: restrain, stifle, underbring; see also Thesaurus:curb

   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:

     And when their ſcattered armie is ſubdu’d:
     And you march on their ſlaughtered carkaſſes,
     Share equally the gold that bought their liues,
     And liue like Gentlmen in Perſea, […]

   • 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Gary Cahill, a _target for Arsenal and Tottenham before the transfer window closed, put England ahead early on and Rooney was on _target twice before the interval as the early hostility of the Bulgarian supporters was swiftly subdued.

2. (transitive) To bring (a country) under control by force.

   Synonyms: conquer, underbring

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dewk- (0 c, 70 e)

Translations

to overcome, quieten, bring under control

• Arabic: طَوَّعَ (ṭawwaʕa), تَغَلَّبَ عَلَى (taḡallaba ʕalā)
• Aromanian: ncljin
• Azerbaijani: tabe etmək
• Bulgarian: подчинявам (bg) impf (podčinjavam), подчиня pf (podčinja)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 征服 (zh) (zhēngfú), 制伏 (zh) (zhìfú)

• Czech: podmanit si pf, podrobit si pf, přemoci pf
• Danish: kue, underkue, undertrykke
• Dutch: onder controle brengen
• Esperanto: obeigi, kvietigi (eo)
• Finnish: nujertaa (fi), kukistaa (fi)
• French: soumettre (fr), subjuguer (fr)
• German: unter Kontrolle bringen, unterwerfen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: καταπονέω (kataponéō), χειρόομαι (kheiróomai)

• Ido: submisar (io), domtar (io)
• Irish: ceansaigh, traoch
• Italian: sottomettere (it), soggiogare (it)
• Japanese: 平げる (たいらげる, tairageru), 征服する (ja) (せいふくする, seifuku suru)
• Latin: subdō, pācō (la)
• Maori: whakangohengohe
• Occitan: subjugar, sometre (oc)
• Portuguese: subjugar (pt)
• Romanian: supune (ro), cuceri (ro), subjuga (ro), închina (ro)
• Russian: подчиня́ть (ru) impf (podčinjátʹ), подчини́ть (ru) pf (podčinítʹ)
• Sanskrit: उब्जति (ubjati)
• Sicilian: divìnciri, suttamèttiri
• Spanish: someter (es), doblegar (es), domeñar (es), debelar (es)
• Swedish: kuva (sv)
• Turkish: hizaya getirmek (tr)
• Vietnamese: kềm nén

to bring (a country) under control by force

• Bulgarian: покорявам (bg) (pokorjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 征服 (zh) (zhēngfú)

• Czech: podmanit si pf, podrobit si pf, přemoci pf
• Danish: kue, underkue, underkue
• Dutch: onderwerpen (nl)
• Esperanto: obeigi
• Finnish: vallata (fi)
• French: assujettir (fr)
• German: unterwerfen (de)
• Hungarian: leigáz (hu)
• Ido: submisar (io)
• Italian: sottomettere (it)
• Japanese: 平げる (たいらげる, tairageru), 征服する (ja) (せいふくする, seifuku suru)
• Maori: pēhipēhi
• Occitan: sometre (oc), subjugar
• Portuguese: submeter (pt)
• Russian: завоёвывать (ru) impf (zavojóvyvatʹ), завоева́ть (ru) pf (zavojevátʹ)
• Spanish: someter (es)