subcurrentn.
/ˈsʌbˌkʌrənt/, /ˈsʌbˌkʌrn̩t/, U.S. /ˈsəbˌkərənt/ A secondary or subsidiary current; an undercurrent. Chiefly figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > current > [noun] > under-current
underwork1610
underflood?1615
undercurrent1684
underset1815
undertow1817
subcurrent1822
underdrift1849
under-draught1853
underflow1854
under-water1859
undercarry1894
underrun1894
turbidity current1939
1822 J. Hook Pen Owen III. ii. 32 Currents and subcurrents of veins, arteries.
1845 H. Milton Lady Cecilia Farrencourt III. vi. 112 Under all this frothy torrent of valour, Trevellyan detected a strong subcurrent of timidity.
1895 ‘H. S. Merriman’ Sowers ii. 17 The Rhine—romantic, cultivated, artificial, with a rough subcurrent and a muddy bed.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 14 Oct. 3/2 The sub-current of American life.
1965 Life 17 Dec. 12 There were awful sado-masochistic subcurrents running through them [sc. comic books].
2005 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Apr. 10/2 That heretical sub-current of philosophical thought that can compress a whole complex argument into some earthy dictum.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1822