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

Rates of breast cancer in women under 50 have increased more than 15% in the last two decades, a rise that is almost entirely driven by an increase in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer (ER+), a tumor subtype that needs the hormone estrogen to grow and spread. —Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC News, 19 Oct. 2024

Genetic sequencing tests suggest the subtype of the virus in a Colorado poultry worker is B3.13 clade 2.3.4.4b and hasn't mutated enough to easily spread from person to person, evade antiviral treatments, or cause more severe disease. —Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, 23 July 2024

There’s no specific subtype that teams are looking for. —Nicolas Vega, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2024

So a good example is a subtype of lung cancer, which is driven by a mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor, or EGFR. —quantamagazine.org, 15 Oct. 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