SUBSURETY

subsurety (s[schwa]b-shuur[-[schwa]]-tee). A person whose undertaking is given as additional security, usu. conditioned not only on nonperformance by the principal but also on nonperformance by an earlier promisor as well; a surety with the lesser liability in a subsuretyship. [Cases: Principal and Surety 191. C.J.S. Principal and Surety §§ 259–262, 265, 290.]