surrogate: Meaning and Definition of

sur•ro•gate

Pronunciation: (n., adj.sûr'u-gāt", -git, sur'-v.sûr'u-gāt", sur'-), [key]
— n., adj., v., -gat•ed, -gat•ing.
—n.
  1. a person appointed to act for another; deputy.
  2. (in some states) a judicial officer having jurisdiction over the probate of wills, the administration of estates, etc.
  3. the deputy of an ecclesiastical judge, esp. of a bishop or a bishop's chancellor.
  4. a substitute.
  5. a surrogate mother.
—adj.
  1. regarded or acting as a surrogate: a surrogate father.
  2. involving or indicating the use of a surrogate mother to conceive or carry an embryo: surrogate parenting.
—v.t.
  1. to put into the place of another as a successor, substitute, or deputy; substitute for another.
  2. to subrogate.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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