Where does “subplot” come from?
Subplot derives from English plot combined with the prefix sub-, from Latin sub meaning "under," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European upo with the same sense.
subplot (English): A plot within a story, subsidiary to the main...
Definitions
- A plot within a story, subsidiary to the main...
Ancestry of “subplot”, step by step
subplot traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English sub
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | sub | A submarine; A submarine sandwich: a sandwich... |
| 2 | English | substitute | To use in place of something else, with the same... |
| 3 | Middle English | substituten | — |
| 4 | Latin | substitutus | substituted |
| 5 | Latin | substituo | I place next to, under, or instead of; I... |
| 6 | Latin | statuo | I set up, station; I establish, determine, fix; I... |
| 7 | Latin | stātus | fixed, set, having been set |
| 8 | Latin | stō | to stand |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | staēō | stand |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | sth₂éh₁yeti | to stand |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | *steh₂- | — |