subtype

noun

sub·​type ˈsəb-ˌtīp 

variants or less commonly sub-type

plural subtypes also sub-types

: a type that is a subdivision of a broader type

… the … vaccine has a new, additional molecular component that its developers believe will contribute to a broader range of protection against subtypes of HIV found in North America, Europe, Australia, Central America, and South America.

—The Journal of the American Medical Association

… the neurotransmitter serotonin has at least 14 different known subtypes of receptors.

—Steven F. Hyman

Among subtypes of juggling found in circus shows are juggling on horseback and strong-man juggling with iron balls.

—Mark Levine

Examples of subtype in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1997, the World Health Organization classified FGM (also sometimes known as female circumcision or FGC), into four different types of procedures, which can vary further through subtypes entailing the partial or total removal of clitoral glans. —Astha Rajvanshi, TIME, 23 May 2024

So far, the scientific literature on wastewater detection of H5 influenza subtypes is scant but encouraging. —Megan Molteni, STAT, 22 May 2024

Genetic analysis established that the virus infecting Cambodians was the familiar subtype, not the one in the Americas — a relief. —Stephanie Nolen Thomas Cristofoletti, New York Times, 21 May 2024

While some people have heard of pica - the mental health condition that causes people to want to chew or eat substances of no nutritional value such as paper, clay or dirt - fewer people have heard of a subtype of the condition called pagophagia. —Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 21 May 2024

There are different subtypes of subungual onychomycosis: distal lateral and proximal. —Sarah Bradley, Health, 19 May 2024

Influenza monitoring via wastewater surveillance has already shown increases in the H5 subtype—the viral group to which H5N1 belongs. —Michael Mina, TIME, 9 May 2024

There are many subtypes, but the strain involved in the most recent outbreak is the highly pathogenic H5N1. —Amber Sayer, Health, 8 May 2024

Here, doctors explain the different subtypes of psoriatic arthritis and the unique symptoms associated with each. —Sarah Bradley, Health, 17 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1816, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

subtype

1 of 2 noun

sub·​type ˈsəb-ˌtīp 

: a type that is subordinate to or included in another type

the blood group subtypes

subtypes of a disease

subtype

2 of 2 transitive verb

subtyped; subtyping

: to classify according to subtype

schizophrenic patients subtyped as paranoid or catatonic