subunitn.

1852 A. Sandeman in Introd. Lect. Opening Owens Coll. 50 If the geometrical magnitudes to be measured are such that they do not contain the unit of measure an exact number of times, subdivisions of the unit must be used as sub-units of measure.

1897 C. H. Swan Monetary Probl. & Reforms iv. 61 One one-hundredth of this unit will equal threepence sterling, and will constitute a convenient sub-unit for retail trade.

1912 G. B. Halsted Found. & Technic Arithm. xvii. 124 Decimals and fractions are made simple by the idea of a principal unit and subunits. Give each child a cheap foot rule; here inches are subunits.

1977 Adv. Electronics & Electron Physics 44 36 The hour, minute, and second are the conventional (nondecimal) subunits.

2011 J. Kasdin & D. A. Paley Engin. Dynamics ii. 24 All SI units and subunits in a category (length, say) are related by factors of 10.

1871 Athenæum 8 July 50/3 It is probable that the half-company, rather than the company, will become what we may term the sub-unit.

1899 Times 15 Aug. 5/2 So long as the sub-units of any military body live apart they are apt to overestimate their own importance as part of the fighting body.

a1944 K. Douglas Alamein to Zem Zem (1946) 13 He allotted me two tanks, as a troop, there not being enough on the squadron strength to make sub-units of more than two tanks.

1970 Idaho State Jrnl. 10 June b4/4 Each year all the subunits in the battalion get together for training.

1996 T. Clancy Executive Orders iv. 68 The Red Force allowed tactical initiative for its sub-unit commanders.

1878 Rep. Select Comm. Poor Law Guardians 49/2 in Rep. from Committees (Parl. Papers) XVII. 337 You would have only to divide every considerable urban parish compulsorily into wards, and that would give you the sub-unit, which I think would serve the purpose.

1880 Engin. News-Record 7 256 A large block of color having an angular outline whose points mark the sub-units is preferable to small detached figures.

1920 E. H. Sherbondy & G. D. Wardrop Textbk. Aero Engines ii. 107 The accessibility of the various parts is such that the sub-unit may be readily inspected or overhauled without disturbing the motor in the aeroplane.

1945 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 67 1531/2 β-Lactoglobulin consists of 370 amino acid residues with 366 peptide bonds, arranged in 4 sub-units (polypeptide chains).

1968 Brain 91 819 The family being the functional sub-unit of society, its study provides a truer picture of the life situation.

1990 Sci. Amer. Dec. 32/2 Cycloheximide..interferes with translation by binding to the 60S subunit of ribosomes, the larger of the ribosomes's two major parts.

2004 Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 2 Nov. 13 The private landlord brought [sic] the site as a single unit... The site was then remarketed..as sub units to be let on a leasehold basis.