subrogation
n. assuming the legal rights of a person for whom expenses or a debt has been paid. Typically, subrogation occurs when an insurance company which pays its insured client for injuries and losses then sues the party which the injured person contends caused the damages to him/her. Example: Fred Farmer negligently builds a bonfire which gets out of control and starts a grass fire which spreads to Ned Neighbor's barn. Good Hands Insurance Co. has insured the barn, pays Neighbor his estimated cost of reconstruction of the barn, and then sues Farmer for that amount. Farmer will have all the "defenses" to the insurance company's suit that he would have had against Neighbor, including the contention that the cost of repairing the barn was less than Neighbor was paid or that Neighbor negligently got in the way of firefighters trying to put out the grass fire.
See also: negligence subrogee subrogor
Definitions of subrogate
verb
substitute one creditor for another, as in the case where an insurance company sues the person who caused an accident for the insured
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This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. [ suhb-ruh-geyt ] / ˈsʌb rəˌgeɪt
/ This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. verb (used with object), sub·ro·gat·ed, sub·ro·gat·ing. to put into the place of another; substitute for another. Civil Law.
to substitute (one person) for another with reference to a claim or right.
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Origin of subrogate
1400–50; 1540–50 for def. 1; late Middle English (past participle) <Latin subrogātus (past participle of subrogāre to nominate (someone) as a substitute), equivalent to sub-sub- + rogā(re) to request + -tus past participle suffix
OTHER WORDS FROM subrogate
sub·ro·ga·tion, nounun·sub·ro·gat·ed, adjective
Words nearby subrogate
subregion, subreption, subright, subring, Subroc, subrogate, subrogation, sub rosa, subround, subroutine, sub-Saharan
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022
British Dictionary definitions for subrogate
verb (tr) lawto put (one person or thing) in the place of another in respect of a right or claim
Word Origin for subrogate
C16: from Latin subrogāre, from sub- in place of + rogāre to ask
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012