subject meaning and definition

SUBJECT noun

Definition of subject (noun)

1. the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
   • "he didn't want to discuss that subject"; "it was a very sensitive topic"; "his letters were always on the theme of love"
   • synonyms: theme, topic
2. something (a person or object or scene) selected by an artist or photographer for graphic representation
   • "a moving picture of a train is more dramatic than a still picture of the same subject"
   • synonyms: content, depicted object
3. a branch of knowledge
   • "in what discipline is his doctorate?"; "teachers should be well trained in their subject"; "anthropology is the study of human beings"
   • synonyms: bailiwick, discipline, field, field of study, study, subject area, subject field
4. some situation or event that is thought about
   • "he kept drifting off the topic"; "he had been thinking about the subject for several years"; "it is a matter for the police"
   • synonyms: issue, matter, topic
5. (grammar) one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the grammatical constituent about which something is predicated
6. a person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation
   • "the subjects for this investigation were selected randomly"; "the cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities"
   • synonyms: case, guinea pig
7. a person who owes allegiance to that nation
   • "a monarch has a duty to his subjects"
   • synonyms: national
8. (logic) the first term of a proposition

SUBJECT verb

Definition of subject (verb)

1. cause to experience or suffer or make liable or vulnerable to
   • "He subjected me to his awful poetry"; "The sergeant subjected the new recruits to many drills"; "People in Chernobyl were subjected to radiation"
2. make accountable for
   • "He did not want to subject himself to the judgments of his superiors"
3. make subservient; force to submit or subdue
   • synonyms: subjugate
4. refer for judgment or consideration
   • "The lawyers submitted the material to the court"
   • synonyms: submit

SUBJECT adjective

Definition of subject (adjective)

1. possibly accepting or permitting
   • "a passage capable of misinterpretation"; "open to interpretation"; "an issue open to question"; "the time is fixed by the director and players and therefore subject to much variation"
   • synonyms: capable, open
2. being under the power or sovereignty of another or others
   • "subject peoples"; "a dependent prince"
   • synonyms: dependent
3. likely to be affected by something
   • "the bond is subject to taxation"; "he is subject to fits of depression"