substation
noun
Simple meaning
A subsidiary station where electricity is transformed for distribution by a low-voltage network.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
suhbstayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsʌbsteɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A subsidiary station where electricity is transformed for distribution by a low-voltage network
A site where electricity supplied by long-distance (high-voltage) transmission lines is transformed or regulated for local (low-voltage) distribution.
A satellite police station serving one neighborhood or part of a larger jurisdiction.
A branch post office.
Any subordinate station.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A subsidiary station where electricity is transformed for distribution by a low-voltage network
Used this way, substation is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is an engineering use: it is a working term used for accuracy on the job.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
- Science
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Subsidiary / site
Satellite
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The real physical matter of which a person or thing consists.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- transformernoun
- voltagenoun
- inverternoun
- converternoun
- automationnoun
- electricitynoun
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.