Word.ws English Dictionary

subpatent

subpatent adjective: infected but asymptomatic or not readily detectable.

Adjective

subpatent (not comparable)

  1. Infected but asymptomatic or not readily detectable.
    • Following the period of patent parasitemia is a subpatent period.1991, Julius P. Kreier, John Robin Baker, Parasitic Protozoa - Volume 7, →ISBN, page 105
    • Twenty-two per cent of humans in the area were, or had been, carrying subpatent trypanosome infections, suggesting that the T. b. rhodesiense reservoir in the region could be considerable.1999, Stephen G. A. Leak, Tsetse Biology and Ecology, →ISBN
  2. Less than patent, present but not fully formed or obviously separate from surrounding structures.
    • Leaves erect, appressed, or subpatent, lanceolate, acute, serrated, especially towards the extremity, the margins recurved; the nerve reaching nearly to the point; surface papillose; colour pale-yellow-green, especially when dry.1818, Sir William Jackson Hooker, Thomas Taylor, Muscologia britannica, page 115
    • Cololla (1 1/2 inch long) campanulate, ventricose below, compressed laterally, glanduloso-pubescent externally, and there of brilliant red colour, excepting in a broad yellow stripe along the lower side, on the inside yellow, glabrous, and sprinkled with red spots, which are largest on the lower...1842, Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal - Volume 32, page 402

Noun

subpatent (plural subpatents)

  1. A legal grant for a subdivision of a patent or giving less than complete ownership rights.
    • It soon became the chief purpose of the company to parcel out these vast holdings, either in individual plantations or, through subpatents, in blocks of thousands of acres.1941, Archibald Henderson, North Carolina: The Old North State and the New, volume 1, page 33
    • It seems like then, perhaps, the best compromise solution would be for the legislature to create almost a middle step, a sub-patent.2010, Hugh C Hansen, Intellectual Property Law and Policy - Volume 11, →ISBN, page 335

Forms of subpatent

pluralsubpatents

Origin of subpatent

From sub- + patent.

Questions about subpatent

What does subpatent mean?
Subpatent means infected but asymptomatic or not readily detectable.
What part of speech is subpatent?
Subpatent can be an adjective or a noun.

Words near subpatent in the dictionary

  1. subpasteurization
  2. subpastor
  3. subpastors
  4. subpatellar
  5. subpatency
  6. subpatent
  7. subpatently
  8. subpatents
  9. subpath
  10. subpathogenic
  11. subpathotype

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: subpatent (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “subpatent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/subpatent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.