subject.
Likely to be affected by or to experience something; liable.
Meaning & usage
Likely to be affected by or to experience something; liable.
a country subject to extreme heat
Menu listings and prices are subject to change.
Conditional upon something; used with to.
The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.
Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English subget, from Old French suget, from Latin subiectus (“lying under or near, adjacent, also subject, exposed”), as a noun, subiectus (“a subject, an inferior”), subiectum (“the subject of a proposition”), past participle of subiciō (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”), as a calque of Ancient Greek ὑποκείμενον (hupokeímenon).
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.
In the active sentence ‘The cat ate the mouse’, ‘the cat’ is the subject and ‘the mouse’ is the object.
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.
By extension: an actor or agent; one who takes action.
the subjects and objects of power
The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
A particular area of study.
Her favorite subject is physics.
A citizen in a monarchy.
I am a British subject.
A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.
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.
human subject research
animal subjects
A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
That of which something is stated.
A 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;.
Where this word comes from
From Latin subiectus (“a subject, an inferior”), subiectum (“the subject of a proposition”), past participle of subiciō (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”).
To 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!
To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave; to subjugate.
Where this word comes from
From Medieval Latin subiectō, iterative of subiciō (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.