b-jekt]
| 1. | that which forms a basic matter of thought, discussion, investigation, etc.: a subject of conversation. |
| 2. | a branch of knowledge as a course of study: He studied four subjects in his first year at college. |
| 3. | a motive, cause, or ground: a subject for complaint. |
| 4. | the theme of a sermon, book, story, etc. |
| 5. | the principal melodic motif or phrase in a musical composition, esp. in a fugue. |
| 6. | an object, scene, incident, etc., chosen by an artist for representation, or as represented in art. |
| 7. | a person who is under the dominion or rule of a sovereign. |
| 8. | a person who owes allegiance to a government and lives under its protection: four subjects of Sweden. |
| 9. | Grammar. (in English and many other languages) a syntactic unit that functions as one of the two main constituents of a simple sentence, the other being the predicate, and that consists of a noun, noun phrase, or noun substitute which often refers to the one performing the action or being in the state expressed by the predicate, as He in He gave notice. |
| 10. | a person or thing that undergoes or may undergo some action: As a dissenter, he found himself the subject of the group's animosity. |
| 11. | a person or thing under the control or influence of another. |
| 12. | a person as an object of medical, surgical, or psychological treatment or experiment. |
| 13. | a cadaver used for dissection. |
| 14. | Logic. that term of a proposition concerning which the predicate is affirmed or denied. |
| 15. | Philosophy.
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| 16. | Metaphysics. that in which qualities or attributes inhere; substance. |
| 17. | being under domination, control, or influence (often fol. by to). |
| 18. | being under dominion, rule, or authority, as of a sovereign, state, or some governing power; owing allegiance or obedience (often fol. by to). |
| 19. | open or exposed (usually fol. by to): subject to ridicule. |
| 20. | being dependent or conditional upon something (usually fol. by to): His consent is subject to your approval. |
| 21. | being under the necessity of undergoing something (usually fol. by to): All beings are subject to death. |
| 22. | liable; prone (usually fol. by to): subject to headaches. |
| 23. | to bring under domination, control, or influence (usually fol. by to). |
| 24. | to bring under dominion, rule, or authority, as of a conqueror or a governing power (usually fol. by to). |
| 25. | to cause to undergo the action of something specified; expose (usually fol. by to): to subject metal to intense heat. |
| 26. | to make liable or vulnerable; lay open; expose (usually fol. by to): to subject oneself to ridicule. |
| 27. | Obsolete. to place beneath something; make subjacent. |

sub·ject (sŭb'jĭkt) adj.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sūbiectus, from past participle of sūbicere, to subject : sub-, sub- + iacere, to throw; see yē- in Indo-European roots.] sub·jec'tion (səb-jěk'shən) n. Synonyms: These nouns denote the principal idea or point of a speech, a piece of writing, or an artistic work. Subject is the most general: "Well, honor is the subject of my story" (Shakespeare). |