subjacent, a.
(səbˈdʒeɪsənt)
[ad. L. subjacentem, pr. pple. of subjacēre, f. sub- sub- 2 + jacēre to lie. Cf. F. subjacent.]
1. Situated underneath or below; underlying. a. in general use.
| 1609 J. Davies Holy Roode (1878) 13/2 Such Sight a squemish stomacke ouerturnes, But comforts mine, with Matter subiacent. 1611 Cotgr., Subiacent, subiacent; vnder-lying. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. i. 34 Not the incumbent Atmosphere, but onely the subjacent Air in the brass Cylinder. 1682 Piers Descr. W. Meath (1770) 29 The subjacent liquor in the glass. 1754 Phil. Trans. XLIX. 144 Whatever part of this vapour begins to..subside first, will carry down with it part of the subjacent vapour. 1875 J. Croll Clim. & Time x. 172 The whole of the surface-film, being chilled at the same time, sinks through the subjacent water. |
b. Anat. and Bot. of nerves, bones, tissues, etc. (Const. to.)
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 10/3 The fore⁓sayed subiacent or subiectede membrane. 1758 Phil. Trans. LI. 176 The ramifications of the subjacent blood-vessels. 1787 tr. Linnæus' Fam. Plants 479 There are two concave impressions from the back, prominent underneath, which compress the subjacent wings. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 2 The skin and subjacent cellular membrane. 1881 Mivart Cat 15 If the muscles be cut away, we come sooner or later to subjacent bones. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 238 Parts subjacent to cutaneous surfaces. |
c. Geol. of strata, rocks, deposits, etc.
| 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iii. (1723) 137 The subjacent Strata. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. i. (1858) 6/2 This red colour I ascertained to be caused by the subjacent red sandstone. 1873 Geikie Gt. Ice Age ii. 5 Subjacent and intercalated beds. 1883 Law Rep. 10 Q.B. Div. 562 A piece of land was granted with a reservation of the whole of the subjacent minerals to the superior. |
d. transf. and fig. Forming the basis or substratum. (Cf. subject a. 11, subjected 1 b.)
| a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1686 II. v. 74 The advantage of chusing one sutable to the subjacent matter and occasion. 1846 Trench Mirac. i. (1862) 118 The Lord..might have created, with no subjacent material, the wine with which He cheered these guests. 1880 Academy 14 Aug. 118/2 Anyone who will carefully compare the agreements and differences in Latin renderings, irrespective of the subjacent Greek text. |
2. Lying or situated at a lower level, at or near the base (e.g. of a mountain).
| 1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man bec. Guilty 305 They built Citadels on the tops of mountains, to discover the subjacent Countreys. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 4 Oct. 1641, Perceiving all the subjacent country, at so small a horizontal distance, to repercuss such a light as I could hardly look against. 1760 Derrick Lett. (1767) I. 79 The rivers that water the subjacent plains. 1774 Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772, 327 Over the subjacent vales and lochs. 1837 Lockhart Scott (1839) X. 84 Before the subjacent and surrounding lake and morass were drained. 1889 Stevenson Edinburgh 22 The smoke of the Old Town blowing abroad over the subjacent country. |
3. Taking place underneath or below. rare.
| 1862 Wraxall tr. Hugo's Les Miserables iv. i. v. II. 293 The sign of a vast subjacent conflagration. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases xviii. 296 The superjacent mucous membrane sloughing or disintegrating in consequence of the subjacent destruction of its nutrient vessels. |
Hence subˈjacently adv., in a subjacent manner.
| 1882 G. Macdonald Castle Warlock x, A new era in his life.., the thought of which had been subjacently present in his dreams. |