subgroup
gb/sˈʌbɡɹˌup/ us/sˈʌbɡɹˌup/
B2
English
~ 9700
Senses
0 senses
Noun
B2
entity
1
smaller group inside a group
A smaller part of a larger group, where the people or things in it share something special with each other.
Usage pattern:
a subgroup of [a larger group]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes use "subgroup" when they only mean "group". Use "subgroup" when you want to show that this is a smaller part of a larger group. Also, some learners write it with a hyphen ("sub-group"), but the standard modern spelling is one word: "subgroup".
Synonyms
subset (More general and often used for sets, data, or categories; slightly more technical in everyday speech.)
|
section (Suggests a part of something, but not always based on shared special features like a subgroup is.)
|
division (Emphasizes a split or organizational unit; may sound more formal or administrative.)
Antonyms
whole group (Refers to all members together, not just a smaller part with special shared features.)
Collocations
a subgroup of the population
|ethnic subgroup
|political subgroup
|subgroup analysis
|identify a subgroup
|a small subgroup
Themes
society
|organization
|research
|core_vocabulary
|relationships
Examples
- The study found that one subgroup of teenagers was at much higher risk.
- Within the company, there is a small subgroup of employees who work entirely remotely.
- The researchers focused on a subgroup of patients over the age of sixty-five.
- Each subgroup will discuss a different aspect of the problem before reporting back to the main group.
- Members of this cultural subgroup often have traditions that differ from the wider community.
Learner examples
- We looked at a subgroup of people who smoke.
- In our class, there is a subgroup of students who love math.
- The doctor studied a subgroup of patients with heart problems.
- This report talks about one subgroup of the workers.
- Each subgroup gave a short talk to the whole group.
Noun
technical
C1
entity
2
group-theory subset forming a group
In higher mathematics, a smaller set inside a group that still follows all the rules needed to be a group on its own.
Usage pattern:
a subgroup of [a group]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse "subset" with "subgroup" and think any subset of a group is a subgroup. In group theory, a subset is only a subgroup if it is closed under the operation, contains the identity, and contains inverses of its elements.
Synonyms
subgroup (of a group) (There is no common single-word synonym in mathematics; the precise term is required in this technical context.)
Antonyms
supergroup (In group theory, a supergroup contains the given group as a subgroup, reversing the subset relationship.)
Collocations
a subgroup of G
|nontrivial subgroup
|normal subgroup
|proper subgroup
|finite subgroup
|subgroup lattice
Themes
mathematics
|science
|education
Examples
- Every subgroup of a cyclic group is itself cyclic.
- Let H be a subgroup of G generated by the element a.
- The kernel of a homomorphism is always a normal subgroup of the domain group.
- We can represent the relationships between these subgroups using a subgroup lattice.
- This theorem characterizes all finite subgroups of the multiplicative group of complex numbers.
Learner examples
- In this exercise, we must find all subgroups of the given group.
- The teacher asked if the set H is a subgroup of G.
- They proved that the kernel is a normal subgroup.
- A proper subgroup is smaller than the whole group.
- The notes show how to build a subgroup from one element.
Grammar
Dictionary form
subgroup
IPA
GB/sˈʌbɡɹˌup/
US/sˈʌbɡɹˌup/
Syllables & stress
sub - group (2 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (sub)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: subgroup
- Plural: subgroups
Word family
Expressions
No expressions linked to this entry yet.