Subset: meaning, definitions and examples

Used when referring to a part of a larger group or set, typically within mathematical, statistical, or programming contexts.

• In a Venn diagram, a subset is a smaller circle within a larger circle, representing a part of a group.
• This dataset is a subset of the larger census data.

Applied when describing a smaller, distinguishable group within a larger group, often used in social, organizational, or research contexts.

• There is a subgroup of students who are interested in environmental science.
• In our company, there is a subgroup of employees focused on tech innovation.

Used in mathematics and set theory to denote a set where all its elements are contained in another set. It is also used generally to refer to any smaller group formed from a larger group.

• The set of even numbers is a subset of the set of integers.
• The marketing team is a subset of the entire company.

Used in mathematics and computer science to denote a sequence derived from another sequence by deleting some elements without changing the order of the remaining elements.

• In the sequence (1, 3, 5, 7), the subsequence (1, 5) is derived by removing the elements 3 and 7.
• Finding a common subsequence is essential in DNA sequence analysis.

This entry is a repetition. Please refer to the first entry for 'subset'.

This term is often used to talk about divisions within larger structures or organizations, and is also common in real estate to describe sections of land.

• The company has a subdivision that focuses on research and development.
• They bought a house in a new suburban subdivision.

This word is suitable for dividing something into smaller parts, often used in business, marketing, or describing physical objects.

• They targeted a specific segment of the market.
• He cut the cake into equal segments.