Discipline vs. Subject — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 26, 2023
Discipline refers to a branch of knowledge or the practice of training oneself, while Subject pertains to a topic of discussion or study.
Difference Between Discipline and Subject
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Discipline, in the academic sense, often refers to a broader field of study or knowledge, like "biology" or "history." Within such disciplines, numerous specialized areas and topics can be studied. Subject, on the other hand, can be a more specific area within a discipline or simply a topic under discussion, like "cellular biology" within biology or "World War II" within history.
Additionally, the term "discipline" carries with it connotations of regulation, control, and training. For instance, one might discipline oneself to adhere to a routine or discipline a child for misbehaving. The word "subject," aside from its academic connotation, can also mean someone or something that undergoes a particular action or process.
Within the academic world, many subjects come together to form a discipline. For instance, the discipline of "psychology" encompasses subjects such as "child psychology," "clinical psychology," and "neuropsychology," among others. Subjects delve into more specific areas or topics within the broader scope of a discipline.
In general conversation, when someone mentions their discipline, they often refer to their overarching field of study or expertise. However, when they discuss a subject, they could be talking about a particular topic they are studying, discussing, or teaching. Both terms, while often used interchangeably, have nuanced differences in meaning and context.
Comparison Chart
Definition
A branch of knowledge or training method
A specific area of study or topic of discussion
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Scope
Broader, overarching
More specific, narrower
Connotation
Can imply regulation, control, or training
Mainly refers to a topic or area within a discipline
Use in Academia
Refers to an entire field of study
A particular area or topic within a discipline
General Meaning
Training that corrects or molds
Something being discussed or studied
Compare with Definitions
Discipline
A field of academic study.
She chose anthropology as her main discipline in college.
Subject
Something being discussed or considered.
The meeting's subject was the new company merger.
Discipline
A set of rules or methods.
Meditation is a discipline she practices daily.
Subject
A branch of knowledge studied or taught.
History is a fascinating subject to many.
Discipline
Discipline is action or inaction that is regulated to be in accordance (or to achieve accord) with a particular system of governance. Discipline is commonly applied to regulating human and animal behavior to its society or environment it belongs.
Subject
A person under the dominion of a monarch or state.
As a subject of the kingdom, she paid her taxes dutifully.
Discipline
Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement
Was raised in the strictest discipline.
Subject
A person or thing that is being discussed, described, or dealt with
I've said all there is to be said on the subject
He's the subject of a major new biography
Discipline
Control obtained by enforcing compliance or order
Military discipline.
Subject
A branch of knowledge studied or taught in a school, college, or university
Maths is not my best subject
Discipline
Controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training; self-control
Dieting takes a lot of discipline.
Subject
A member of a state other than its ruler, especially one owing allegiance to a monarch or other supreme ruler
The legislation is applicable only to British subjects
Discipline
A state of order based on submission to rules and authority
A teacher who demanded discipline in the classroom.
Subject
A noun or noun phrase functioning as one of the main components of a clause, being the element about which the rest of the clause is predicated.
Discipline
Punishment intended to correct or train
Subjected to harsh discipline.
Subject
A thinking or feeling entity; the conscious mind; the ego, especially as opposed to anything external to the mind.
Discipline
A set of rules or methods, as those regulating the practice of a church or monastic order.
Subject
Likely or prone to be affected by (a particular condition or occurrence, typically an unwelcome or unpleasant one)
He was subject to bouts of manic depression
Discipline
A branch of knowledge or teaching
The discipline of mathematics.
Subject
Dependent or conditional upon
The proposed merger is subject to the approval of the shareholders
Discipline
To train by instruction and practice, as in following rules or developing self-control
The sergeant disciplined the recruits to become soldiers.
Subject
Under the authority of
Ministers are subject to the laws of the land
Discipline
To punish in order to gain control or enforce obedience.
Subject
Conditionally upon
Subject to the EC's agreement, we intend to set up an enterprise zone in the area
Discipline
To impose order on
Needed to discipline their study habits.
Subject
Cause or force someone or something to undergo (a particular experience or form of treatment, typically an unwelcome or unpleasant one)
He'd subjected her to a terrifying ordeal
Discipline
A controlled behaviour; self-control.
Subject
Bring (a person or country) under one's control or jurisdiction, typically by using force
The city had been subjected to Macedonian rule
Discipline
An enforced compliance or control.
Subject
Being in a position or in circumstances that place one under the power or authority of another or others
Subject to the law.
Discipline
A systematic method of obtaining obedience.
Subject
Prone; disposed
A child who is subject to colds.
Discipline
A state of order based on submission to authority.
Subject
Likely to incur or receive; exposed
A directive subject to misinterpretation.
Discipline
A set of rules regulating behaviour.
Subject
Contingent or dependent
A vacation subject to changing weather.
Discipline
A punishment to train or maintain control.
Subject
One who is under the rule of another or others, especially one who owes allegiance to a government or ruler.
Discipline
A specific branch of knowledge or learning.
Subject
One concerning which something is said or done; a person or thing being discussed or dealt with
A subject of gossip.
Discipline
A category in which a certain art, sport or other activity belongs.
Subject
Something that is treated or indicated in a work of art.
Discipline
(transitive) To train someone by instruction and practice.
Subject
(Music) A theme of a composition, especially a fugue.
Discipline
(transitive) To teach someone to obey authority.
Subject
A course or area of study
Math is her best subject.
Discipline
(transitive) To punish someone in order to (re)gain control.
Subject
A basis for action; a cause.
Discipline
(transitive) To impose order on someone.
Subject
One that experiences or is subjected to something
The subject of ridicule.
Discipline
The treatment suited to a disciple or learner; education; development of the faculties by instruction and exercise; training, whether physical, mental, or moral.
Wife and children are a kind of discipline of humanity.
Discipline aims at the removal of bad habits and the substitution of good ones, especially those of order, regularity, and obedience.
Subject
A person or animal that is the object of medical or scientific study
The experiment involved 12 subjects.
Discipline
Training to act in accordance with established rules; accustoming to systematic and regular action; drill.
Their wildness lose, and, quitting nature's part,Obey the rules and discipline of art.
Subject
A corpse intended for anatomical study and dissection.
Discipline
Subjection to rule; submissiveness to order and control; habit of obedience.
The most perfect, who have their passions in the best discipline, are yet obliged to be constantly on their guard.
Subject
One who is under surveillance
The subject was observed leaving the scene of the murder.
Discipline
Severe training, corrective of faults; instruction by means of misfortune, suffering, punishment, etc.
A sharp discipline of half a century had sufficed to educate us.
Subject
(Grammar) The noun, noun phrase, or pronoun in a sentence or clause that denotes the doer of the action or what is described by the predicate.
Discipline
Correction; chastisement; punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.
Giving her the discipline of the strap.
Subject
(Logic) The term of a proposition about which something is affirmed or denied.
Discipline
The subject matter of instruction; a branch of knowledge.
Subject
The mind or thinking part as distinguished from the object of thought.
Discipline
The enforcement of methods of correction against one guilty of ecclesiastical offenses; reformatory or penal action toward a church member.
Subject
A being that undergoes personal conscious or unconscious experience of itself and of the world.
Discipline
Self-inflicted and voluntary corporal punishment, as penance, or otherwise; specifically, a penitential scourge.
Subject
The essential nature or substance of something as distinguished from its attributes.
Discipline
A system of essential rules and duties; as, the Romish or Anglican discipline.
Subject
To cause to experience, undergo, or be acted upon
Suspects subjected to interrogation.
Rocks subjected to intense pressure.
Discipline
To educate; to develop by instruction and exercise; to train.
Subject
To subjugate; subdue.
Discipline
To accustom to regular and systematic action; to bring under control so as to act systematically; to train to act together under orders; to teach subordination to; to form a habit of obedience in; to drill.
Ill armed, and worse disciplined.
His mind . . . imperfectly disciplined by nature.
Subject
To submit to the authority of
Peoples that subjected themselves to the emperor.
Discipline
To improve by corrective and penal methods; to chastise; to correct.
Has he disciplined Aufidius soundly?
Subject
Likely to be affected by or to experience something.
A country subject to extreme heat
Menu listings and prices are subject to change.
He's subject to sneezing fits.
Discipline
To inflict ecclesiastical censures and penalties upon.
Subject
Conditional upon something; used with to.
The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.
Discipline
A branch of knowledge;
In what discipline is his doctorate?
Teachers should be well trained in their subject
Anthropology is the study of human beings
Subject
Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
Discipline
A system of rules of conduct or method of practice;
He quickly learned the discipline of prison routine
For such a plan to work requires discipline
Subject
Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
Discipline
The trait of being well behaved;
He insisted on discipline among the troops
Subject
(grammar) In a clause: the word or word group (usually a noun phrase) about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject and the actor are usually the same.
In the sentence ‘The cat ate the mouse’, ‘the cat’ is the subject, ‘the mouse’ being the object.
Discipline
Training to improve strength or self-control
Subject
An actor; one who takes action.
The subjects and objects of power.
Discipline
The act of punishing;
The offenders deserved the harsh discipline they received
Subject
The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
Discipline
Train by instruction and practice; especially to teach self-control;
Parents must discipline their children
Is this dog trained?
Subject
A particular area of study.
Her favorite subject is physics.
Discipline
Punish in order to gain control or enforce obedience;
The teacher disciplined the pupils rather frequently
Subject
A citizen in a monarchy.
I am a British subject.
Discipline
Training that molds or corrects.
The athlete's discipline helped him achieve his goals.
Subject
A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
Discipline
Control gained by enforcing obedience.
The teacher maintained discipline in the classroom.
Subject
(music) The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.
Discipline
Punishment intended to correct or train.
The child received discipline for misbehaving.
Subject
A human, animal or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc.
Subject
(philosophy) A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
Subject
(logic) That of which something is stated.
Subject
(math) The variable in terms of which an expression is defined.
0, we have x
Subject
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!
Subject
(transitive) To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave.
Subject
Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
Subject
Placed under the power of another; specifically (International Law), owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state; as, Jamaica is subject to Great Britain.
Esau was never subject to Jacob.
Subject
Exposed; liable; prone; disposed; as, a country subject to extreme heat; men subject to temptation.
All human things are subject to decay.
Subject
Obedient; submissive.
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities.
Subject
That which is placed under the authority, dominion, control, or influence of something else.
Subject
Specifically: One who is under the authority of a ruler and is governed by his laws; one who owes allegiance to a sovereign or a sovereign state; as, a subject of Queen Victoria; a British subject; a subject of the United States.
Was never subject longed to be a king,As I do long and wish to be a subject.
The subject must obey his prince, because God commands it, human laws require it.
Subject
That which is subjected, or submitted to, any physical operation or process; specifically (Anat.), a dead body used for the purpose of dissection.
Subject
That which is brought under thought or examination; that which is taken up for discussion, or concerning which anything is said or done.
Make choice of a subject, beautiful and noble, which . . . shall afford an ample field of matter wherein to expatiate.
The unhappy subject of these quarrels.
Subject
The person who is treated of; the hero of a piece; the chief character.
Writers of particular lives . . . are apt to be prejudiced in favor of their subject.
Subject
That of which anything is affirmed or predicated; the theme of a proposition or discourse; that which is spoken of; as, the nominative case is the subject of the verb.
The subject of a proposition is that concerning which anything is affirmed or denied.
Subject
That in which any quality, attribute, or relation, whether spiritual or material, inheres, or to which any of these appertain; substance; substratum.
That which manifests its qualities - in other words, that in which the appearing causes inhere, that to which they belong - is called their subject or substance, or substratum.
Subject
The principal theme, or leading thought or phrase, on which a composition or a movement is based.
The earliest known form of subject is the ecclesiastical cantus firmus, or plain song.
Subject
The incident, scene, figure, group, etc., which it is the aim of the artist to represent.
Subject
To bring under control, power, or dominion; to make subject; to subordinate; to subdue.
Firmness of mind that subjects every gratification of sense to the rule of right reason.
In one short view subjected to our eye,Gods, emperors, heroes, sages, beauties, lie.
He is the most subjected, the most nslaved, who is so in his understanding.
Subject
To expose; to make obnoxious or liable; as, credulity subjects a person to impositions.
Subject
To submit; to make accountable.
God is not bound to subject his ways of operation to the scrutiny of our thoughts.
Subject
To make subservient.
Subjected to his service angel wings.
Subject
To cause to undergo; as, to subject a substance to a white heat; to subject a person to a rigid test.
Subject
The subject matter of a conversation or discussion;
He didn't want to discuss that subject
It was a very sensitive topic
His letters were always on the theme of love
Subject
Some situation or event that is thought about;
He kept drifting off the topic
He had been thinking about the subject for several years
It is a matter for the police
Subject
A branch of knowledge;
In what discipline is his doctorate?
Teachers should be well trained in their subject
Anthropology is the study of human beings
Subject
Something (a person or object or scene) selected by an artist or photographer for graphic representation;
A moving picture of a train is more dramatic than a still picture of the same subject
Subject
A person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation;
The subjects for this investigation were selected randomly
The cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities
Subject
A person who owes allegiance to that nation;
A monarch has a duty to his subjects
Subject
(grammar) one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the grammatical constituent about which something is predicated
Subject
(logic) the first term of a proposition
Subject
Cause to experience or suffer or make liable or vulnerable to;
He subjected me to his awful poetry
The sergeant subjected the new recruits to many drills
People in Chernobyl were subjected to radiation
Subject
Make accountable for;
He did not want to subject himself to the judgments of his superiors
Subject
Make subservient; force to submit or subdue
Subject
Refer for judgment or consideration;
She submitted a proposal to the agency
Subject
Not exempt from tax;
The gift will be subject to taxation
Subject
Possibly accepting or permitting;
A passage capable of misinterpretation
Open to interpretation
An issue open to question
The time is fixed by the director and players and therefore subject to much variation
Subject
Being under the power or sovereignty of another or others;
Subject peoples
A dependent prince
Subject
A topic or area of study.
Mathematics was her favorite subject in school.
Subject
A person or thing being dealt with in a particular way.
He was the subject of much admiration.
Common Curiosities
Is every Subject part of a Discipline?
Typically, yes. Subjects often fall under broader disciplines.
Can a person be a Subject?
Yes, in certain contexts, like being the "subject" of a study or the "subject" of a kingdom.
Can Subject be a synonym for topic?
Yes, Subject can refer to a specific topic of discussion or study.
What does Discipline generally refer to in academia?
In academia, Discipline refers to a broader field or branch of knowledge.
Which is broader, Discipline or Subject?
Discipline is generally broader, encompassing various subjects.
Can one Discipline contain multiple Subjects?
Absolutely. For instance, the discipline of biology has subjects like genetics, ecology, and microbiology.
Can Subject refer to a matter of discussion in a meeting?
Yes, the Subject of a meeting refers to its primary topic or focus.
Can Discipline also mean punishment?
Yes, Discipline can refer to punishment or training that corrects or molds behavior.
Is Discipline always academic?
No, Discipline can also refer to self-control or a method of training.
How are disciplines typically established?
Disciplines often evolve over time as knowledge in a particular field grows and becomes more specialized.
What's an example of a Subject within the Discipline of physics?
Quantum mechanics is a subject within the discipline of physics.
Is every topic a Subject?
In general terms, yes. Most topics can be considered subjects of discussion or study.
Is Discipline always self-imposed?
No, Discipline can be externally imposed, like by teachers or trainers.
Are subjects limited to educational contexts?
No, Subject can refer to any topic of discussion, not just academic ones.
Does every Discipline have subjects?
In academic terms, most disciplines will have subjects or specific areas of study within them.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
