Subsequent describes something that comes after or follows something else in time or order. If a teacher asks you to complete a worksheet and turn in all subsequent assignments on time, she means the ones that come after this one. If a store opens on Monday and gets 50 customers, and then gets 75 customers on each subsequent day, it means Tuesday, Wednesday, and the days that follow.

The word helps you talk about sequences and cause and effect. A scientist might study how an earthquake affects a city and then examine the subsequent damage to buildings. A historian studying World War I would look at the war itself and then the subsequent treaties that followed. When you're telling a story about what happened at recess, you might describe the initial argument between two friends and the subsequent apology.

Notice that subsequent implies a connection or relationship between events. The subsequent events are somehow linked to or flow from what came before them.