subject

From Middle English subget, from Old French suget, from Latin subiectus (“lying under or near, adjacent, also subject, exposed”), as a noun, subiectus (“a subject, an inferior”), subiectum (“the subject of a proposition”), past participle of subiciō (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”).

• enPR: sŭbʹjĕkt, IPA^(key): /ˈsʌb.dʒɛkt/
• (also) (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌb.dʒɪkt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sub‧ject

subject (comparative more subject, superlative most subject)

1. Likely to be affected by or to experience something.

   a country subject to extreme heat

   • Dryden

     All human things are subject to decay.

   • 2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68:

     The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them […] is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.

   Menu listings and prices are subject to change.

   He's subject to sneezing fits.

2. Conditional upon.

   The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.

3. Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

4. Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
   • John Locke

     Esau was never subject to Jacob.

From Latin subiectus (“a subject, an inferior”), subiectum (“the subject of a proposition”), past participle of subiciō (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”).

• enPR: sŭbʹjĕkt, IPA^(key): /ˈsʌb.dʒɛkt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌb.dʒɪkt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sub‧ject

subject (plural subjects)

1. (grammar) In a clause: the word or word group (usually a noun phrase) that is dealt with. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject and the actor are usually the same.

   In the sentence ‘The mouse is eaten by the cat in the kitchen.’, ‘The mouse’ is the subject, ‘the cat’ being the agent.

2. An actor; one who takes action.

   The subjects and objects of power.

3. The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     the subject for heroic song

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden

     Make choice of a subject, beautiful and noble, which […] shall afford an ample field of matter wherein to expatiate.

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     the unhappy subject of these quarrels

   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 5, in The Hocussing of Cigarette‎:

     Then I had a good think on the subject of the hocussing of Cigarette, and I was reluctantly bound to admit that once again the man in the corner had found the only possible solution to the mystery.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:

     The departure was not unduly prolonged. […] Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.

4. A particular area of study.

   Her favorite subject is physics.

   • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

     One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. […] But out of sight is out of mind. And that, together with the inherent yuckiness of the subject, means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.

5. A citizen in a monarchy.

   I am a British subject.

6. A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
7. (music) The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.
   • (Can we date this quote?) W. S. Rockstro

     The earliest known form of subject is the ecclesiastical cantus firmus, or plain song.

8. A human, animal or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Conyers Middleton

     Writers of particular lives […] are apt to be prejudiced in favour of their subject.

   • 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:

     Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field.

9. (philosophy) A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
10. (logic) That of which something is stated.
11. (mathematics) The variable in terms of which an expression is defined.

    Making x the subject of x2 − 6x + 3y = 0, we have x = 3 ± √(9 − 3y).

• (discussion): matter, topic

• between-subjects
• subject matter
• subject title
• subjective
• within-subjects

• object
• predicate

From Medieval Latin subiectō, iterative of subiciō (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”).

• enPR: səb-jĕktʹ, IPA^(key): /səbˈdʒɛkt/, /sʌbˈdʒɛkt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛkt

subject (third-person singular simple present subjects, present participle subjecting, simple past and past participle subjected)

1. (transitive, construed with to) To cause (someone or something) to undergo a particular experience, especially one that is unpleasant or unwanted.

   I came here to buy souvenirs, not to be subjected to a tirade of abuse!

2. (transitive) To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave.

• underbring

• subject in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• subject in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.