subject
/ˈsʌb.d͡ʒɪkt/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms subjects subjecting subjected
- adjective Likely to be affected by or to experience something; liable. “a country subject to extreme heat”
- adjective Conditional upon something; used with to. “The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.”
- adjective Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
- adjective Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
- noun (grammar) The noun, pronoun or noun phrase about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject is the actor. In clauses in the passive voice the subject is the target of the action. “In the active sentence ‘The cat ate the mouse’, ‘the cat’ is the subject and ‘the mouse’ is the object.”
- noun By extension: an actor or agent; one who takes action. “the subjects and objects of power”
- noun The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
- noun A particular area of study. “Her favorite subject is physics.”
- noun A citizen in a monarchy. “I am a British subject.”
- noun A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
- noun (music) The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.
- noun A human, animal, or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc; especially, one being studied in a scientific experiment, such as a clinical trial. “human subject research”
- verb (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!”
- verb (transitive) To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave; to subjugate.
Synonyms
matter topic underbring theme content depicted object discipline subject area subject field field field of study study bailiwick issue case guinea pig national subjugate submit capable open dependent
Antonyms
Etymology
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”), as a calque of Ancient Greek ὑποκείμενον (hupokeímenon).
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”).
From Medieval Latin subiectō, iterative of subiciō (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
- adjective Placed under the power of another; specifically (International Law), owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state; as, Jamaica is subject to Great Britain.
- noun That which is placed under the authority, dominion, control, or influence of something else.
- noun Specifically: One who is under the authority of a ruler and is governed by his laws; one who owes allegiance to a sovereign or a sovereign state; as, a subject of Queen Victoria; a British subject; a subject of the United States.
Etymology [OE. suget, OF. souzget, sougit (in which the first part is L. subtus below, fr. sub under), subgiet, subject, F. sujet, from L. subjectus lying under, subjected, p.p. of subjicere, subicere, to throw, lay, place, or bring under; sub under + jacere to throw. See Jet a shooting forth.]
Etymology [From L. subjectus, through an old form of F. sujet. See Subject, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “subject”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details