# subject

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈsʌb.d͡ʒɛkt/ · frequency rank #1,175

## Definitions
1. Likely to be affected by or to experience something; liable.
2. Conditional upon something; used with to.
3. Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
4. Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.

## Etymology
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).

## Easily confused with
- **subset** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/subject-vs-subset)
- **suspect** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/subject-vs-suspect)
- **subvert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/subject-vs-subvert)
- **subtext** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/subject-vs-subtext)
- **subjects** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/subject-vs-subjects)
- **subjected** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/subject-vs-subjected)

## Common misspellings (11)
`sbuject`, `ssubject`, `subbject`, `subejct`, `subjcet`, `subjecct`, `subjectt`, `subjetc`, `subjject`, `sujbect`, `usbject`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/subject