subset
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a group of things or people that are all part of a bigger group.
n.a group of items or individuals that form a specific part of a larger collection or population.
Simple“The survey focused on a small subset of the population living in rural areas.”
In context“While the policy affects all employees, a specific subset of part-time staff will receive additional benefits under the new contract.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a set where every member is also a member of another set.
n.a set A such that every element of A is also an element of a set B.
Simple“In math, the set of even numbers is a subset of all whole numbers.”
In context“The proof requires us to demonstrate that set X is a proper subset of set Y, meaning it contains some but not all of Y's elements.”
Synonymssub collectionAntonymssuperset - 03 C1 Advanced
v.to choose or take a smaller part from a larger group of data.
v.to extract or isolate a specific portion of a larger dataset or digital resource.
Simple“We need to subset the data to look only at customers who joined this year.”
In context“The software allows users to subset the original font file, including only the characters necessary for the specific document to reduce file size.”
UsageThe verb is transitive and requires a direct object, typically a dataset or file.
Usage subset of
“They reflect a subset of experiences that may not match your own situation.”
From sub- + set.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.