▪ I. † subtract, n. rare. Obs.
[ad. L. subtractus, pa. pple. of subtrahĕre to subtract.]
1. ? A remainder.
| a 1635 Naunton Fragm. Regalia (1641) 27 Sir Iohn Perrot was a goodly Gentleman..and he was of a very ancient discent, as an heire to many Subtracts [other ed. of 1641 abstracts] of Gentry. |
2. A subtrahend.
| 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 341 If he be carefull to make his Canon right, the Letters themselves will direct him how to frame his Divisors and Subtracts. |
▪ II. subtract, v.
(səbˈtrækt)
Also 6 -track.
[f. L. subtract-, pa. ppl. stem of subtrahĕre (whence OF. subtraire, It. sottrarre, Pg. subtrahir) f. sub- sub- 26 + trahĕre to draw, carry. See also substract.]
1. trans. To withdraw or withhold (a thing that is or may be used or enjoyed). Obs. exc. arch.
| 1548 Act 2 & 3 Edw. VI, c. 13 §13 Yf anye person doe subtracte or withdrawe any manner of tithes. 1559–60 MS. Cott. Calig. B. ix, Let not men..move zow to subtract zour helping hand. 1581 Marbeck Bk. Notes 588 They did not subtract from them their ciuill obedience or counted them from that day forward, no longer to be their kings. 1607 Statutes in Hist. Wakefield Gram. Sch. (1892) 69 To subtract so much of the Ushers wages. 1846 Grote Greece i. iii. I. 105 His ill will is thus raised, and he tries to subtract from man the use of fire. |
† 2. To remove from a place or position. Obs.
| 1574 Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. II. 374 The merchandis..traffiquand betuix Berwick and Edinburgh salbe subtractit and withdrawin. 1640 Bp. Hall Episc. ii. vii. 187 And yet none of the ancient burdens subtracted. 1659 Bp. Pearson Creed (1839) 303 Should we imagine Christ to anticipate the time of death, and to subtract his soul from future torments necessary to cause an expiration. 1676 Glanvill Ess. Philos. & Relig. iii. 27 Let him then subtract his Finger, and he will perceive the Quicksilver to descend from the Tube into the subjacent Vessel. |
b. refl.
| c 1540 Bellenden's Livy (S.T.S.) I. 8 (MS. A) To subtract [MS. B substract] me fra sicht of sic miserijs as oft occurris in to oure dayis. 1657 J. Sergeant Schism Dispach't 74 If they..would subtract themselves from her obedience. Ibid. 511 Whoever subtracts himself from a former actuall governour. 1889 Daily News 28 Feb. 4/2 Whether steps will be taken..to prevent Houston from subtracting himself from the jurisdiction of one of her Majesty's Courts. |
3. Math. To take away or deduct (one quantity from, † out of another): see subtraction 3. Also absol. or intr.
| 1557 Recorde Whetst. K ij, Wherfore I subtract 16. out of 18. 1574 W. Bourne Regim. Sea xx. (1577) 53 Subtract or take away the stars declination from the heigth. 1652 News fr. Low Countr. 8 Podex can..Adde, Multiply, Subtract, Divide. 1774 M. Mackenzie Marit. Surv. 62 Subtract the Complement of the Declination from the half Sum, and take the Remainder. 1838 De Morgan Ess. Probab. 72 Remembering to subtract at the last step instead of adding. 1882 Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 53 We should get a better approximation still by subtracting the temperature at 12 from the temperature at 1 second past 12, and multiplying the difference by 3600. |
b. transf. and fig.
| a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. (1677) 123 What is so subtracted or subducted out of the extent of the Divine Perfection, leaves still a Quotient, if I may so call it, Infinite. 1838 [F. Haywood] tr. Kant's Crit. Pure Reason 415 A law of the understanding, from which it is permitted to deviate under no pretence, or therefrom to subtract any phenomenon. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola ix, The transient pink flush..subtracted nothing from her majesty. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 474 That is what I suppose you to say,..you may, if you wish, add or subtract anything. |
Hence subˈtracting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1691 Ray Creation i. (1692) 109 The same Swallow by the subtracting daily of her Eggs proceeded to lay nineteen successively. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 46 There is to be no adding or subtracting. 1956 J. L. Stewart Circuit Theory & Design ix. 289 (caption) A two-tube subtracting circuit. |