subtract

US/səbˈtɹækt/

verbB2Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,355 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: subtracting, subtracted, subtracts

To subtract is to take one amount away from another. Subtract four from nine, subtract the cost, subtract the tax.

Order matters, unlike in addition: four subtract nine is not nine subtract four. The phrase is subtract something from something, and getting that round the wrong way is one of the commonest slips in arithmetic word problems.

Definitions of subtract

1verbsubtractTo take one amount away from another.B2
“If you subtract the cost of the tickets, we have very little money left.”

subtract is a taking away.

Where it comes from

Latin subtrahere means to draw away from underneath — sub, under, plus trahere, to pull.

Latin
subtractus
English, today
subtract

Built from

subtrahō · Latin — to draw from beneath; withdraw, remove
sub · Latin — under
trahō · Latin — to draw, pull, drag

Latin subtractus, perfect passive participle of subtrahō (“to draw from beneath; withdraw, remove”); from sub (“under”) + trahō (“to draw, pull, drag”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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