Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Subsume \Sub*sume"\, v. t. [Pref. sub- + L. sumere to take.]
   To take up into or under, as individual under species,
   species under genus, or particular under universal; to place
   (any one cognition) under another as belonging to it; to
   include under something else.

         To subsume one proposition under another. --De Quincey.

         A principle under which one might subsume men's most
         strenuous efforts after righteousness.   --W. Pater.

Source : WordNet®

subsume
     v 1: contain or include; "This new system subsumes the old one"
     2: consider (an instance of something) as part of a general
        rule or principle [syn: {colligate}]