# subject

Pronunciation: US say "SUB-jekt" /ˈsʌb.d͡ʒɛkt/; UK say "SUB-jikt" /ˈsʌb.d͡ʒɪkt/

## Noun

1. What a paper, artwork, discussion, field of study, or the like is mainly concerned with; its central topic.
   - Simple: The main thing that a book, talk, or picture is about.
   - _The novel's central subject is the cost of ambition._
   - _The lecture touched on several subjects before settling on one._
3. A particular area of study, such as a school or university course.
   - Simple: An area of learning you study, like math or history.
   - _Biology was the only subject that truly held his interest._
   - _Students must choose their subjects by the end of the year._
6. A human, animal, or object being examined, treated, or analyzed, especially one studied in a scientific experiment such as a clinical trial.
   - Simple: A person, animal, or thing that is being studied, tested, or treated, especially in an experiment.
   - _Before the trial began, every subject signed a consent form._
   - _Researchers monitored the subjects' blood pressure throughout the week._
7. Someone or something that an action or response is aimed at, for example criticism, threats, an attack, or an investigation.
   - Simple: The person or thing that blame, threats, an attack, or an investigation is aimed at.
   - _The new tax has been the subject of fierce criticism from small businesses._
   - _The journalist was the subject of repeated threats after her report aired._
8. The heading line of an email or similar message, giving a brief idea of its topic.
   - Simple: A few words at the top of an email, or a message like it, that tell you what it is about.
   - _Messages with vague subjects like "Hi" are easy to overlook in a busy inbox._
   - _Type "Updated schedule" in the subject before you forward the email to the team._
9. Someone who lives under the rule of another, particularly of a monarch or the state.
   - Simple: A person who is ruled by a king, queen, or government.
   - _A loyal subject obeyed the laws handed down by the king._
   - _The emperor demanded tribute from all his subjects._
10. The noun, pronoun, or noun phrase about which a statement is made; in active clauses it usually names the doer of the action, and in passive clauses the one acted upon.
   - Simple: In a sentence, the word or words that do the action or that the sentence is about.
   - _In 'The cake was eaten by Sam,' the subject is 'the cake,' not Sam._
   - _A plural subject takes a plural verb form._
13. That about which something is stated or asserted in a proposition.
   - Simple: The thing or person that a sentence is about and tells us something about.
   - _Logicians distinguish the subject of a proposition from what is predicated of it._
   - _In that claim, the planet itself is the subject, and its motion is asserted of it._
14. The principal theme or melody on which a composition is built, especially the opening idea of a fugue.
   - Simple: The main tune in a piece of music that keeps coming back as it plays.
   - _The organist introduced the subject before the other voices entered._
   - _Bach develops a single subject through dozens of inventive variations._
15. An actor or agent; the one who takes action or performs a deed.
   - Simple: The person who carries out an action or does a deed.
16. The variable that a formula expresses in terms of the other variables, usually standing alone on one side of the equation.
   - Simple: The letter that a math formula is set up to give on its own.
   - _To find the radius, students rearranged the equation until r became the subject._
   - _Making v the subject of the formula lets you work out the speed directly from the other values._

## Adjective

2. Likely to experience or be affected by something; liable.
   - Simple: Likely to have something happen to you, often something bad.
   - _Prices in the market are subject to sudden swings._
   - _Coastal towns here are subject to powerful storms each winter._
4. Dependent on something else happening or being satisfied; followed by to.
   - Simple: Depending on something else happening or being agreed to, as in 'subject to approval'.
   - _The merger remains subject to regulatory approval._
   - _All reservations are subject to availability at the time of booking._
11. Living under another's authority, and owing loyalty to a particular ruler or state.
   - Simple: Being under the rule of a king, country, or other power, and having to obey it.
   - _As a subject territory, the island answered to the crown across the water._
   - _The conquered tribes remained subject to the emperor for several generations._

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "suhb-JEKT" /səbˈd͡ʒɛkt/

5. To expose someone or something to a particular treatment or experience, especially an unpleasant or unwelcome one.
   - Simple: To make someone or something go through an experience, usually a bad one.
   - _The regime subjected dissidents to years of harsh imprisonment._
   - _Investigators may subject any witness to repeated questioning._
12. To bring a person, people, or country under the control of another, often by force; to subdue or enslave.
   - Simple: To force a person, group, or country to obey and serve a more powerful ruler.
   - _The conquerors set out to subject the islanders to their rule._
   - _Within a single summer, the invading army had subjected every town in the valley._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A conscious being that has subjective experiences and awareness, or that stands in a relationship to another entity.
- (adjective) Placed or situated underneath something; lying below or in a lower position.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 4, 11** — Latin subiectus ("lying under, exposed," or as a noun "a subject") passed through Old French suget into Middle English as subget. It was the past participle of subicio ("to throw or place"), built from sub ("under") and iacio ("to throw"). The philosophical use of the neuter form subiectum is a calque of Ancient Greek hupokeimenon.
**Meanings 1, 3, 6–10, 13–16** — Latin subicio ("to throw or place"), from sub ("under") and iacio ("to throw"), had the past participle forms subiectus ("a subject, an inferior") and subiectum ("the subject of a proposition"), and English took the word from these.
**Meanings 5, 12** — Built as an iterative of the verb subicio ("to throw or place"), which itself is made of sub ("under") and iacio ("to throw"), the Medieval Latin form subiecto is the source of this word.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/subject (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).