subject English · revision 3168

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1315|origins=la subiciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: noun, adjective: /ˈsʌb.dʒɪkt/, /ˈsʌb.dʒekt/; verb: /səbˈdʒekt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|suget]], subget,^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|suget]], subget (modern French sujet),^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|subiectus|t=lying under, near; subjected, subdued]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the past participle of [[m|la|subiciō|t=I place under, throw under, make subject]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from sub- “under” and the combining form of iacere “to throw”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline takes these to the roots [[ine-pro|*upo|t=under]] and [[ine-pro|*ye-|t=to throw, impel]].^(Etymonline) The Middle English forms included sugges, sogetis, subgit and sugette,^(Etymonline) and the spelling was re-Latinized in the 16th century.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The senses in grammar, logic and philosophy come directly from Latin subiectum “foundation, subject of a proposition”, the neuter noun use, which is a loan translation of Aristotle's Greek hypokeimenon “that which lies beneath”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The verb is [[inh|enm|subjecten]], from [[la-med|subiectāre|t=to place beneath]], a frequentative of subicere.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person under the rule of another: about 1315 in the OED's sense of one bound to a superior by allegiance or service,^(OED 1989) and the early 14th century in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) Barnhart's first example is sugge, before 1333, in Shoreham's ''Poems''.^(Barnhart 1988) The adjective, “obedient, submissive”, is also early 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A subject of a monarch or state is from 1340.^(OED 1989) In philosophy the word named the substance of a thing, as opposed to its attributes, from the late 14th century,^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) when ''subject matter'', “that upon which an agent works”, also appears, from Medieval Latin subiecta materia, a loan translation of Aristotle's Greek.^(Etymonline) In logic the term of which something is affirmed or denied is from the 1550s.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) The sense “topic, matter treated” is from 1563,^(HTOED) and the subject matter of an art or science from the 1540s.^(Etymonline) The general sense, a person or thing acted on, is from the 1590s,^(Etymonline) the theme of a painting or other work of art from 1614,^(HTOED) and the grammatical subject of a verb from 1615^(HTOED) or the 1630s.^(Etymonline) A dead body used for dissection is from 1702,^(HTOED) and the thinking subject, the conscious self, is from the 17th–18th century.^(HTOED)^(Hoad 1986) The verb, “to make subject by force”, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) 1382 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and “to expose (to something)” from the early 15th.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1315 – one bound to a superior by allegiance.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 14th century – adjective, obedient, submissive.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1340 – a subject of a monarch.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1382 – verb, to bring under rule.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – ''subject matter''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1550s – the subject of a proposition in logic.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1563 – a topic.^(HTOED)

+ * 1590s – a person or thing acted upon.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1614 – the subject of a work of art.^(HTOED)

+ * 1615 – the grammatical subject.^(HTOED)

+ * 1702 – a body for dissection.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who lives under the rule of a [[monarch]] or [[government]] and owes it [[allegiance]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The [[topic]] of a talk, piece of writing or thought.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A branch of knowledge studied, as at school.^(NODE 1998)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The person, scene or thing shown in a work of [[art]]; the theme of a piece of music.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person or animal on which an [[experiment]] or [[treatment]] is carried out.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(grammar)'' The word or phrase in a sentence that the [[predicate]] is about, usually the doer of the action.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(logic)'' The term of a proposition about which something is affirmed or denied.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' The thinking mind, the self, as opposed to its objects.^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Under the power or authority of another.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Prone or liable: ''subject to colds''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Depending on a condition: ''subject to approval''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To bring under control; to [[subjugate]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To cause to undergo or endure something: ''subjected to abuse''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To submit for consideration.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[subjection]]

+ * [[subjectless]]

+ * [[subjectable]]

+ * [[subjectability]]

+ * [[subjectedly]]

+ * [[subjectedness]]

+ * [[subjectlike]]

+ * [[unsubject]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[subjective]]

+ * [[object]]

+ * [[project]]

+ * [[reject]]

+ * [[inject]]

+ * [[jet]]

+ * [[subjacent]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scots ''subjects'' long meant a person's property or effects, and in law a ''subject'' is a thing over which a right is exercised, in Scotland a piece of property.^(Wright 1898)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}