subtraction
(səbˈtrækʃən)
Also 5 subtraccio(u)n, 5–6 -tractioun(e, 6 sotraccion.
[ad. late L. subtractio, -ōnem (in Vulgate tr. Gr. ὑποστολή), n. of action f. subtrahĕre to subtract. Cf. It. sottrazione, Pg. subtrac{cced}ão. See also substraction.]
† 1. Withdrawal or removal from a place. Obs.
| c 1400 Sc. Trojan War (Horstm.) ii. 369 He..wylfully in⁓to þat stede Hath graunted þe subtractioune Of þat relyk of gret renowne To Anthenor. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 155 As in the subtraccion of Danes as vn to the maner and chaunce þer of croniclers make noo mencion [etc.]. |
2. The withdrawal or withholding of something due, necessary, or useful. Also, an instance of this. Obs. exc. arch.
| c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. x. 53 He þat is tauȝt wiþ þe ȝifte of grace, and lerned wiþ þe betyng of subtraccion [orig. subtractionis verbere]. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 33 This plaige of subtractioun of grace. 1598 in Archpriest Controv. (Camden) I. 96 By y⊇ addicions & sotraccions affirmacions & negacions, etc., of the particul{supr}{sups} of his autority. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 163 A subtraction or diminution of the maintenance of studied Divines. 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages (1872) II. 242 A second subtraction of obedience, or at least declaration of neutrality. 1833 Waddington Hist. Ch. xxiii. 524 The party in France, which for some time had been opposed to the subtraction of obedience..declared its adhesion. |
b. Law. The withdrawal or withholding from a person of any right or privilege to which he is lawfully entitled.
| 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 21 Ecclesiastical laws relate to..subtraction and right of tythes, oblations, &c. 1768 Blackstone Comm. iii. 94 The suit for restitution of conjugal rights..is brought whenever either the husband or wife is guilty of the injury of subtraction, or lives separate from the other without any sufficient reason. Ibid. 231 The subtraction or non-observance of any of these conditions, by neglecting to swear fealty, to do suit of court, [etc.] is an injury to the freehold of the lord. 1835 Tomlins' Law-Dict., Subtraction of Rents and Services. |
c. Logic. The exception of one class from another in which the excepted class is naturally included.
| In recent Dicts. |
3. Math. The taking of one quantity from († out of) another; the operation of finding the difference between two quantities, the result being termed the remainder. Also, an instance of this.
compound subtraction: see compound a. 2 b.
| c 1425 Crafte Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 10 Þou most know þat subtraccion is drawynge of one nowmber oute of anoþer nomber. 1542 Recorde Gr. Artes (1575) 95 Subtraction or Rebating is nothing els, but an arte to withdrawe and abate one summe from another, that the Remainer may appeare. 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xviii. F j, Nowe by subtraction subduce 100 from 120, there remayneth your diuisor 20. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. iv. 390 note, Subtraction of this number, and, in some, addition..will rectifie many gross absurdities in our Chronologies. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v., Compound Subtraction, is the Method of taking a Summ compounded of several different Species, from another Summ Compounded likewise of the same sorts of Species. 1854 Orr's Circ. Sci., Math. 22 Proceed in like manner with each denomination till the subtraction is finished. 1910 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 11) II. 538/2 We..perform the subtractions independently, and then regroup the results as the remainder. |
b. transf. and fig. Abstraction, deduction, removal.
| 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 27 That we maye be as good accompters of our offyces and dutyes, and se bothe in addycion and subtraction what somme may surmounte of the remaynes. 1738 T. Birch App. Life Milton I. 72 By comparing it with his other Account, we shall perceive..that there is not an entire Agreement in any one of the Paragraphs,but there are either Alterations, or Additions, or Subtractions, or Contradictions. 1820 R. Jackson Sk. Febrile Dis. (ed. 2) I. 227 Dr. Rush, and other American physicians carried subtraction of blood to great extent in the American epidemic. 1828 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 325 The gift of a single million out of this vast amount is about as insignificant as the subtraction of a grain of wheat from a peck measure. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. xiii. §1. 723 From it all the varieties of organized products might be obtained, by the addition or subtraction of water, oxygen, and ammonia. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. (1909) 25 The world can endure the subtraction of even a justice of the peace with provoking equanimity. |
4. Detraction, depreciation. (Cf. subtractor.) rare.
| 1890 Century Mag. XXXIX. 624/2 Of Shakspere he [sc. Emerson] talked much, and always without a word of subtraction. |