Other forms: substituted, substitutes, substituting
In sport, a substitute is a player who waits on the bench to replace a teammate. Bring on a substitute, come on as a substitute, three substitutes.
It is usually shortened to sub. The number allowed has risen over the years and is now five in most professional football. More generally, a substitute is anything used in place of something else: a substitute teacher, no substitute for experience, sugar substitute. As a verb it means to put one thing in place of another, and the construction substitute A for B trips up almost everybody.
1nounsubstituteA player waiting to replace a teammate.
“The coach brought on a substitute when our striker hurt his ankle.”
synonyms: sub, replacement
2verbputTo put one thing in place of another.
“You can substitute honey for the sugar and it still works.”
substitute is a replacement.
Also accepted in games: sub
Latin substitutus means put in place of — sub-, under, plus statuere, to set up. The same statuere gives statue, statute and institute, all things set up to stand.
Latin
substitutus
Middle English
substituten
English, today
substitute
Built from
From Middle English substituten, from Latin substitutus, past participle of substituō, from sub- (“under; beneath”) + statuō (“to put up; establish”). Displaced native Old English spala (“a substitute”) and spelian (“to substitute”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA