Definition of "subject"

subject¹

/ˈsʌb.d͡ʒɛkt/

adjective
comparative more subject, superlative most subject
1. Likely to be affected by or to experience something.
  Quotations
  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, […]
  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.
3. Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
  Quotations
  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
4. Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
  Quotations
  Esau was never subject to Jacob.
  1689 December (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], Two Treatises of Government: […], London: […] Awnsham Churchill, […]

subject²

/ˈsʌb.d͡ʒɛkt/

noun
plural subjects
1. (grammar) The 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.
2. By faulty generalisation of a clauses subject being one: an actor or agent; one who takes action. The following example would mean that the subject subjects its subjects to its rule:
3. The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
  Quotations
  this subject for heroic song
  1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
  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, […]
  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, [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.
  1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 5, in The Hocussing of Cigarette‎
  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.
  1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
4. A particular area of study.
  Quotations
  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.
6. A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
  Quotations
  […] 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, page 93
7. (music) The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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. (philosophy) A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
10. (logic) That of which something is stated.
11. (mathematics) The variable in terms of which an expression is defined.

subject³

/səbˈd͡ʒɛkt/

verb
third-person singular simple present subjects, present participle subjecting, simple past and past participle subjected
1. (transitive, construed with to) To cause (someone or something) to undergo a particular experience, especially one that is unpleasant or unwanted.
2. (transitive) To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave.

Definition of "subject"

subject1

adjective

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subject2

noun

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subject3

verb

subject¹

subject²

subject³