The present participle of substitute, meaning to put or use something in place of another; replacing one thing with another.
From Latin substituere, meaning 'to put in place of,' composed of sub- (under, in place of) + statuere (to set up). The word literally means to place something underneath or in the position of something else.
Substituting is one of humanity's most creative survival skills - our ability to replace one thing with another has driven innovation from cooking (honey for sugar) to technology (email for letters) to relationships (chosen family for biological family).
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