In*fe"ri*or , n. A person lower in station, rank, intellect, etc., than another.
A great person gets more by obliging his inferior than by disdaining him.
South.
In*fe"ri*or (?), a. [L., compar. of inferus that is below, underneath, the lower; akin to E. under: cf. F.
inférieur. See Under.]
1. Lower in place, rank, excellence, etc.; less important or valuable; subordinate;
underneath; beneath.
A thousand inferior and particular propositions.
I. Watts. The
body, or, as
some love to call it, our inferior nature.
Burke. Whether they are equal or
inferior to my other poems, an author is
the most improper judge.
Dryden. 2. Poor or mediocre; as, an inferior quality of goods.
3. (Astron.) (a) Nearer the sun than the
earth is; as, the inferior or interior planets; an inferior conjunction of Mercury or Venus. (b)
Below the horizon; as, the inferior part of a meridian.
4. (Bot.) (a)
Situated below some other organ; -- said of a calyx when free from the
ovary, and therefore below it, or of an ovary with
an adherent and therefore inferior calyx.
(b) On the side of a flower which is next
the bract; anterior.
5.
(Min.) Junior or subordinate in rank; as, an
inferior officer.
Inferior court (Law), a court subject to the jurisdiction of another court known as the
superior, or
higher, court. -- Inferior letter, Inferior figure (Print.), a small letter or figure standing at the bottom of
the line (opposed to superior letter or figure), as in A2, Bn, 2 and n are
inferior characters. -- Inferior tide, the tide corresponding to the moon's transit of the meridian, when below the horizon.
Hear it pronounced