subjectivity

Etymology

It is formed from English subjective + -ity,^[2][3][4] probably after German Subjectivität (1788).^[2] The OED also compares post-classical New Latin subiectivitas (1792 or earlier) and French subjectivité (1801),^[2] and Etymonline says the word spread with Kant's terminology.^[3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged derives it from the New Latin word itself,^[5] and Dictionary.com takes the philosophical term from the French.^[6] Subjective is from Latin subiectīvus, from subiectus (“placed under”), the past participle of subiciō (“to place under”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being based on subjective consciousness or experience; existing in the mind only: 1803, in the Edinburgh Review.^[2][3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1805–15.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word came in as a term of philosophy, at first for what has no reality outside the mind.^[3][2] Coleridge used it in the 1820s and 1830s for consciousness of one's own states, for a conscious being, for the personal quality of a work of art, and as a synonym of subjectivism.^[2] From 1838 it meant the habit of seeing things chiefly through one's own mind and feelings,^[2] a general sense Etymonline finds by 1854.^[3] This is now the main sense: the influence of personal feelings and opinions on a judgement, as opposed to objectivity.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1803 – the quality of being based on subjective consciousness; existence in the mind only.^[2][3]
• 1821 – consciousness of one's own states or actions.^[2]
• before 1834 – a conscious being; the individuality of an artist shown in a work; subjectivism.^[2]
• 1838 – the viewing of things chiefly through one's own mind or feelings.^[2] Etymonline dates this general sense to 1854.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of being subjective; the tendency to judge or present things in the light of personal feelings or opinions rather than facts: Critics complained about the subjectivity of the judges' scores.^[4][5][2]
2. The individuality of an artist or writer as expressed in a work or performance.^[5][2]
3. Subjectivism.^[5][2]
4. The quality of existing only in the mind.^[2][3]
5. A subjective thought or idea.^[1][5]

Related words

• subjective
• subject
• subjectivism
• objectivity

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House