subject

comparative more subject · superlative most subject

1. Likely to be affected by or to experience something; liable.

   He's subject to sneezing fits.

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   a country subject to extreme heat

   Menu listings and prices are subject to change.

   All human things are subject to decay.

   1709, J[ohn] Dryden, J[ohn] Oldham, “(please specify the page)”, in Mac Flecknoe: A Poem. […] With Spencer’s Ghost: Being a Satyr Concerning Poetry. […], London: […] H[enry] Hills, […], →OCLC

   The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them[…]is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.[…]current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate[…]“stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.

   2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68

2. Conditional upon something; used with to.

   The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.

3. Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.

   Long he them bore above the subject plain

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

4. Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.

   , Book I Esau was never subject to Jacob.

plural subjects

1. grammarThe noun, pronoun or noun phrase about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject is the actor. In clauses in the passive voice the subject is the target of the action.

   In the active sentence ‘The cat ate the mouse’, ‘the cat’ is the subject and ‘the mouse’ is the object.

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   A subject (Sub) is a word, phrase, or clause that performs the action of or acts upon the verb in the predicate.

   2021, Heather Marie Kosur, “Chapter 6: Grammatical Functions”, in A Form-Function Description of the Grammar of the Modern English Language: Book 1 (Level 9A), Rock Pickle Publishing, →ISBN, page 101

   In the passive sentence ‘the mouse was eaten by the cat’, ‘the mouse’ is the subject even though it is the target (patient) of the action, and ‘the cat’ is the agent.

   Antonyms: object, predicate

2. By extension: an actor or agent; one who takes action.

   the subjects and objects of power

3. The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.

   this subject for heroic song

   1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

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   Make choice of a subject beautifull and noble, which […] shall […]afford[…] an ample field of matter wherein to expatiate itself.

   1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC

   I am th' unhappy subject of these quarrels. All these quarrels are about me.

   c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

   Then I had a good think on the subject of the hocussing of Cigarette, and I was reluctantly bound to admit that once again the man in the corner had found the only possible solution to the mystery.

   1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020

   The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.

   1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

   Synonyms: matter, topic

4. A particular area of study.

   Her favorite subject is physics.

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   One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains.[…]But out of sight is out of mind. And that, together with the inherent yuckiness of the subject, means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.

   2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891

5. A citizen in a monarchy.

   I am a British subject.

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   Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, and without prejudice to section 39, this Act shall apply to proceedings by or against the Crown in like manner as it applies to proceedings between subjects.

   1980, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Part III, section 37(1)”, in Limitation Act 1980ᵂⁱᵏⁱˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ, page 26

   Ignat'ev refused to concede these points, but offered other concessions instead: Russia would not demand a consulate in Ch'i-ch'i-ha-erh or Chang-chia-k'ou (Kalgan); it would permit Chinese subjects to continue living along the Ussuri river as Chinese subjects; and it would limit to 200 the number of Russian traders in Peking.

   1996, S. C. M. Paine, Imperial Rivals: China, Russia, and Their Disputed Frontier, M. E. Sharpe, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 89

6. A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.

   […]the Grand Khan seemed to grasp the "truth" of the religion and might become a convert, thereby gaining for Christianity the souls of all his subjects.

   2020, Alan Mikhail, God's Shadow, →ISBN, page 93

7. entertainmentThe main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.

   The earliest known form of subject is the ecclesiastical cantus firmus, or plain song.

   1878, William Smith Rockstro, “Subject”, in A Dictionary of Music and Musicians

8. A human, animal, or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc; especially, one being studied in a scientific experiment, such as a clinical trial.

   animal subjects

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   human subject research

   Writers of particular lives[…]are apt to be prejudiced in favour of their subject.

   1748, Conyers Middleton, Life of Cicero

   It is also essential for those who come to the subject 'fresh' to gain the insight that will bridge their knowledge from being a subject of hypnosis to a potential practitioner.

   2010, Ursula James, Clinical Hypnosis Textbook: A Guide for Practical Intervention, page 73

   Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field.

   2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist

9. human sciencesA being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
10. human sciencesThat of which something is stated.
11. mathematicsA variable isolated on one side of an equality, expressed in terms of other variables.

    Making x the subject of x²-6x#43;3y#61;0, we get x#61;3#92;pm#92;sqrt#123;9-3y#125;.

present singular third person subjects · participle present subjecting · participle past subjected · past subjected

1. transitiveTo cause (someone or something) to undergo a particular experience, especially one that is unpleasant or unwanted.

   I came here to buy souvenirs, not to be subjected to a tirade of abuse!

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   But political tinkering is never far away and British Rail, during much of its life, was subjected to it.

   2026 August 19, Richard Wilcock, “Structure and power in the times of GBR”, in RAIL, number 1068, page 21

2. transitiveTo make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave; to subjugate.