\Sub*sume"\, v. t. [Pref. sub- + L. sumere to take.] To take up into or under, as individual under species, species under genus, or particular under universal; to place (any one cognition) under another as belonging to it; to include under something else. To subsume one proposition under another. --De Quincey. A principle under which one might subsume men's most strenuous efforts after righteousness. --W. Pater.