Subject Meaning
/ˈsʌb.d͡ʒɛkt/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjLikely to be affected by or to experience something; liable.
adjConditional upon something; used with to.
Sentence Examples
What subject do you think he is interested in?
Your question does not bear on the subject under discussion.
Walker's work has been the subject of much debate.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In a traditional kingdom, every loyal ____ must obey the king's strict laws.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
History was always my favorite ____ in school because I loved learning about ancient civilizations.
Word Origin & History
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).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
"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:
"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:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In a traditional kingdom, every loyal ____ must obey the king's strict laws.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
History was always my favorite ____ in school because I loved learning about ancient civilizations.