subsidiary Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an assistant subject to the authority or control of another
    subordinate; underling; foot soldier.
  2. noun a company that is completely controlled by another company
    subsidiary company.
  3. adjective satellite functioning in a supporting capacity
    supplementary; auxiliary; supplemental.
    • the main library and its auxiliary branches

WordNet

Sub*sid"i*a*ry adjective
Etymology
L. subsidiarius: cf. F. subsidiaire. See Subsidy.
Definitions
  1. Furnishing aid; assisting; auxiliary; helping; tributary; especially, aiding in an inferior position or capacity; as, a subsidiary stream.
    Chief ruler and principal head everywhere, not suffragant and subsidiary. Florio.
    They constituted a useful subsidiary testimony of another state of existence. Coleridge.
  2. Of or pertaining to a subsidy; constituting a subsidy; being a part of, or of the nature of, a subsidy; as, subsidiary payments to an ally.
    George the Second relied on his subsidiary treaties. Ld. Mahon.
Sub*sid"i*a*ry noun
Wordforms
plural Subsidiaries
Definitions
  1. One who, or that which, contributes aid or additional supplies; an assistant; an auxiliary. Hammond.

Webster 1913