- Being in a position or in circumstances that place one under the power or authority of another or others: subject to the law.
- Prone; disposed: a child who is subject to colds.
- Likely to incur or receive; exposed: a directive subject to misinterpretation.
- Contingent or dependent: a vacation subject to changing weather.
- One who is under the rule of another or others, especially one who owes allegiance to a government or ruler.
- One concerning which something is said or done: a subject of gossip.
- Something that is treated or indicated in a work of art.
- Music. A theme of a composition, especially a fugue.
- A course or area of study: Math is her best subject.
- A basis for action; a cause.
- One that experiences or is subjected to something: the subject of ridicule.
- A person or animal that is the object of medical or scientific study: The experiment involved 12 subjects.
- A corpse intended for anatomical study and dissection.
- One who is under surveillance: The subject was observed leaving the scene of the murder.
- Grammar. The noun, noun phrase, or pronoun in a sentence or clause that denotes the doer of the action or what is described by the predicate.
- Logic. The term of a proposition about which something is affirmed or denied.
- Philosophy.
- The essential nature or substance of something as distinguished from its attributes.
- The mind or thinking part as distinguished from the object of thought.
- To submit for consideration.
- To submit to the authority of.
- To expose to something: patients subjected to infection.
- To cause to experience: subjected to extreme weather.
- To subjugate; subdue.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sūbiectus, from past participle of sūbicere, to subject : sub-, sub- + iacere, to throw.]
subjection sub·jec'tion (səb-jĕk'shən) n.SYNONYMS subject, matter, topic, theme. These nouns denote the principal idea or point of a speech, a piece of writing, or an artistic work. Subject is the most general: “Well, honor is the subject of my story” (Shakespeare). Matter refers to the material that is the object of thought or discourse: “This distinction seems to me to go to the root of the matter” (William James). A topic is a subject of discussion, argument, or conversation: “They would talk of . . . fashionable topics, such as pictures, taste, Shakespeare” (Oliver Goldsmith). Theme refers especially to an idea, a point of view, or a perception that is developed and expanded on in a work of art: “To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme” (Herman Melville). See also synonyms at citizen, dependent.







