discipline
/ˈdɪsəplɪn/noun, verb
discipline is spelled D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E. The wrong spelling people search most is dicipline: about 340 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 29 of all searches for the word. Discipline is a noun meaning “A controlled behaviour; self-control”. The plural of discipline is disciplines.
How many letters and syllables are in discipline?
| Letters | 10: D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,838th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, dicipline, about 340 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell discipline?
Discipline is spelled D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 30 of the searches for discipline in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is discipline?
Discipline appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,838th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce discipline?
- UK /ˈdɪsɪplɪn/
- US /ˈdɪsəplɪn/
- US [ˈd̥ɪsɪ̽plɪ̈n]
Discipline has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-discipline.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of discipline
- disciplines plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- disciplining participle, present
- disciplined participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does discipline mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A controlled behaviour; self-control.
- 2
An enforced compliance or control.
- 3
A systematic method of obtaining obedience.
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?
- 4
A state of order based on submission to authority.
- 5
A set of rules regulating behaviour.
- 6
A punishment to train or maintain control.
- 7
A whip used for self-flagellation.
- 8
A flagellation as a means of obtaining sexual gratification.
verb
- 1
To train someone by instruction and practice.
- 2
To teach someone to obey authority.
- 3
To punish someone in order to (re)gain control.
- 4
To impose order on someone.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Discipline in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | discipline , pénalité , branche |
| German | Disziplin , Strafe, Bestrafung , disziplinieren |
| Portuguese | disciplina , castigo , disciplinar |
| Spanish | disciplina , castigo , ramo , disciplinar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does discipline come from?
From Middle English [Term?], from Anglo-Norman, from Old French descipline, from Latin disciplina (“instruction”), from discipulus (“pupil”), influenced by disco (“to learn”), from Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“(cause to) accept”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).