subculture

Etymology

From sub- + culture.

noun

1. A portion of a culture distinguished by its customs or other features, often in contrast to the larger mainstream culture.
   The goth subculture has its own mode of dress, and it has a characteristic musical style.
   Like those activities, bodybuilding is an obsession, a living (for a few), and a way of life for the people involved in it—a subculture, in a word, with its own values, aesthetics and vocabulary. 1974, Charles Gaines, George Butler, Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding, page 7
   White Americans are transitioning toward minority status for the first time. As they do, perhaps their ways will be treated less as the default mainstream, and more as subcultures among subcultures. 2014-11-24, Anand Giridharadas, “How to Talk About Race Without Talking About Race”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   White evangelicals once saw themselves “as the owners of mainstream American culture and morality and values,” said Jones. Now they are just another subculture. 2021-07-09, Michelle Goldberg, “The Christian Right Is in Decline, and It’s Taking America With It”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
2. (biology) A culture made by transferring microorganisms from a previous culture to a fresh growth medium

verb

1. (biology) To transfer (microorganisms) to a fresh growth medium in order to start a new culture
   Cultures were subcultured by 20-fold dilution into fresh MS2D medium approximately every 7 d. 1990, Heidi F. Kaeppler et al., “Silicon carbide fiber-mediated DNA delivery into plant cells”, in Plant Cell Reports, volume 9, number 8