surrogate (2009-05-30)

Part of Speech: noun

Pronunciation: ['sê-rê-gêt]

Definition: A substitute or replacement, especially in a role or position.

Usage: Unlike "substitute" and "replacement," today's word usually implies a replacement in a role: "Margot isn't romantically inclined toward Ben Neise; he is a sort of surrogate for Margot's deceased brother." Although the word need not refer to humans, its reference must imply some role: "Well, the Renault is a poor surrogate for the Lamborghini you promised me, but I guess it will take me where I'm going." This assumes that Lamborghinis fill the role of status symbol.

Suggested Usage: Today's word is frequently encountered in attributive position, modifying another noun: "surrogate mother," "surrogate father," etc. It may also be used as a verb meaning "to substitute" by shifting the accent to the final syllable. The action noun of this verb is "surrogation. The skeleton in this word family's closet is an almost identical parallel family in which the final [b] in the suffix does not assimilate (see Etymology): "subrogate," "subrogation."

Etymology: Today's word comes from Latin "surrogatus," past participle of surrogare "to substitute," a variant of "subrogare" with the same meaning. There are several prefixes in Latin whose final consonant was "assimilated" by the initial consonant of the stem to which it attached. The [b] in "sub" was one of them. It was either totally assimilated by [p] ("suppose," "support") or only partially ("suspect," "suspend"). It was assimilated by [r] most of the time as in today's word. The consonants [c], [f], and [g] also assimilated it, as we see in "succinct," "suffer," and "suggest." We see evidence of the same process operating on the final consonant of ad- ("appoint," "accept," "aggravate," "arrange") and in- ("impossible," "irreverent," "illogical"). See Word of the Day "derogate" for the origin of the root of today's word.