Etymograph

English

sublethal

From sub- + lethal.

A compound of sub- + lethal

Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up; from below’

Proto-Italic *supo ‘under’

Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’

English sub-

Latin lētum ‘death’

Latin lētālis ‘deadly, mortal, fatal’

English lethal

Today it means

adj Less than lethal.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sublethal”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / sublethal