sub·sti·tute (sŭb'stĭ-tūt', -tyūt')
n.

1. One that takes the place of another; a replacement: "Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality" (Barbara Grizzuti Harrison).
2. Grammar. A word or construction used in place of another word, phrase, or clause.

v., -tut·ed, -tut·ing, -tutes.

v.tr.

1. To put or use (a person or thing) in place of another: "substituting moral power for physical force" (Elizabeth Cady Stanton).
2. Chemistry. To replace (one or more elements or radicals in a compound) by other elements or radicals.

v.intr.
To take the place of another: "Only art can substitute for nature" (Leonard Bernstein).

[Middle English, from Old French substitut, from Latin substitūtus, past participle of substituere, to substitute : sub-, in place of; see sub- + statuere, to cause to stand.]

substitutability sub'sti·tut'a·bil'it·y n.
substitutable sub'sti·tut'a·ble adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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