subjectionn.
/səbˈdʒɛkʃn/, U.S. /səbˈdʒɛkʃən/ I. In senses relating to subject adj.† 1. The action, state, or process of being submissive or subject to another; submission, obedience; homage. Obsolete.† 5. † 7. The act of putting something under or before a person. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Tim. ii. 11 A womman lerne in silence, with al subieccioun [L. subjectione].
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 115 (MED) Þe bisshop of Meneuia was i-sacred of þe bisshoppes of Wales..and made non professioun noþer subiection to non oþer chirche.
1419 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. I. 65 (MED) We ȝoure humble liges and servitours, with all subjection and humilitee..recomend us to ȝoure roial Majestee.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 1031 The body to the soule obeye In euery maner skylful weye, And bern to hym subieccion.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. FFvi Good relygion and subiection sore reproueth contempt for his suggestion.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxvii A maner of ferdenesse crepeth in his herte, not for harme, but of goodly subiection.
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Socrates Scholasticus iv. xxviii, in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. 339 They crooched vnto the Romaines, they protested loyaltie and subiection.
1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia i. i. 1 To dismaske themselues of that cloake of subjection, which before they pretended.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1405 Masters commands come with a power resistless To such as owe them absolute subjection . View more context for this quotation
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Brief View Leviathan (1676) 91 To withdraw their subjection.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. vii. 242 Our king..owes no kind of subjection to any other potentate upon earth.
1786 A. Gib Καινα και Παλαια: Sacred Contempl. i. iii. 36 The Supreme Law-giver is entitled to the absolute subjection of his reasonable creature.
2.
a. The action, state, or fact of exercising lordship or control; dominion, domination, control.† (b) Without modification. Obsolete.
(a) With possessive adjective or phrase indicating the superior power or authority. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > [noun] > chief authority or dominion
ealdordomeOE
lord-domeOE
lordshipeOE
aldershipOE
danger?c1225
seignioryc1290
demesnec1300
lordheada1325
lordshippingc1384
dominationc1386
subjectiona1393
signory?a1425
dominionc1430
signority1525
seigniority1596
dynasty1613
seigniorage1656
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 2805 He is riche..Which hath in his subjeccion Tho men whiche in possession Ben riche of gold.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 20 Oþer rewmes þat er vnder his subieccion.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xix. 408 Whan he sawe that he was..in the subgectyon of Reynawde..he was sore an angred.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 17 Al the Countre therabout he held vnder his subgection.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 355 Whiche dyd submytte a great parte of Grece in their subjection.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 885 To submit themselues to the subiection & grieuous yoke of the French king.
1584–5 Act 27 Eliz. c. 2. §4 Any Parson under her Majesties Subjection or Obedience.
a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 65 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) They should all arise generally into rebellion, and cast away the English subjection.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iii. 78 [The Cretans] would rather..render to the Turke, then to liue vnder the subection [sic] of Venice.
1652 J. Wright tr. J.-P. Camus Nature's Paradox i. 3 The Castellians are those who have Lands, Citties, Burroughs, Villages and Seignories under their subjection.
1684 E. Browne tr. Plutarch Lives III. 632 Diodorus..brought the greatest part of Africa under his Subjection, with an Army of Greeks, which he raised out of the Colonies of the Olbianians and Myceneans placed here by Hercules.
1747 Scots Mag. Dec. 581 The strong castle of Calot..was by Segrab Bex, whom he had sent for that purpose, brought in one day under our subjection.
1798 R. Clifford tr. A. Barruel Mem. Hist. Jacobinism III. 106 Nor was he less pleased to see the Sect daily gaining ground..in those very Lodges which he wished so much to reduce under his subjection.
1801 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 1800 Hist. India 25/1 In reducing under his subjection the whole of the districts in which the best cinnamon is produced.
1892 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Ireland 18th Cent. (new ed.) I. i. 2 Ireland never passed, like the rest of Europe, under the subjection of the Romans.
1903 tr. in Alaskan Boundary Tribunal: Case of U.S. App. 251 Schelikov..brought the whole tribe..into the subjection of Russia.
2008 G. E. Dowd in J. R. Soderlund & C. S. Parzynski Backcountry Crucibles i. 135 The League protested to the French that it was not under British subjection.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > [noun] > action or act of
ruling?c1225
governingc1384
governancec1400
government?c1400
gubernationc1450
regence?1457
regencya1475
subjectionc1475
regimenc1485
administration1516
signorizing1588
ministry1700
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 59 Þof þu desire to be prest, or be befor to hem þat þu coueitist..ouer proudly in coueiting subieccoun of hem.
c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 485 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 164 Dee þare þam leware wes ay, þane fore to thol subieccione of hyme þat segyt þan þar towne.
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) viii. l. 2399 He mycht nocht all his will..fullfill, That wes till haue subiectioun Oure our realme.
b. The action of making subject or bringing under domination or control; subjugation. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > victory > [noun] > subjugation
subjection1597
prostration1644
subjugationa1676
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. xlix. 104 The subiection of the body to the will is by naturall necessitie, the subiection of the will vnto God voluntarie.
a1676 M. Hale Hist. Common Law (1971) v. 64 After the conquest of the kingdom and subjection of the rebels.
1742 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 414/2 To lull the Impatience of the People..by the Appearance of a new Effort for the Subjection of the Enemy.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. iv. i. 18 She..doubted not compleating, before long, the subjection of her unfortunate tenderness.
1836 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. V. xlii. 664 The conquest of Europe, or at least the subjection of all its Governments to his control.
1908 J. Curtin Mongols iv. 75 The subjection of the Kirghis and this new victory over Tangut secured the position of Jinghis in Northeastern Asia.
1998 R. Gordon Ailments through Ages 7 In his twenty years of campaigning for the subjection of Europe and the Middle East, Napoleon was wounded only once.
3. The act or fact of being subjected, as under a monarch or other sovereign or superior power; the state of being subject to, or under the dominion of, another; (hence) subordination.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > [noun]
dangera1375
subjectiona1398
subalternation1483
vassalry1594
subordination1595
vassalage1595
subordination1599
subordinacy1612
subserviency1646
subjectedness1647
subservience1648
vassalation1648
subduedness1653
subordinancy1680
subservientness1727
heteronomy1798
subordinateness1876
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vi. xviii. 317 As this name seruaunt is a name of subiectioun so þis name lord is a name of souereinte.
c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 16 (MED) [The king] made this Chirche..with the sam fredommys that his Crowne ys liberttid with, or ony othir chirch yn all Inglonde that is most y-freid, and relesid hit all customys and decreid for to be free frome all erthly seruyce, power and subieccion.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 6 Ȝet ar wifys put in swech maner of subieccion þat þei be bounde to do dew seruyse on-to men.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. b.iiv Sauand my senyeoury fra subiectioun And my lordscip vn lamyt.
1563 N. Winȝet tr. Vincentius Lirinensis Antiq. Catholike Fayth in Wks. (1890) II. 5 The subiectioun of the Israelitis amangis the Gentilis.
a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 6 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) That generall subjection of the Land, whereof wee formerly spake.
1612 J. Speed Theatre of Empire of Great Brit. i. xii. 23/2 [Bristol] because it is an entire County of it selfe, it denies subiection vnto either [Somerset and Gloucestershire].
1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 248 In regard of their conuenience, and subiection to the whole, they make no disiunction or opposition.
1641 ‘Smectymnuus’ Vindic. Answer Hvmble Remonstr. vii. 98 Now we read no where of the subjection of one Bishop and his charge to an other.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. viii. 39 Our obedience, and subjection to God Almighty.
1663 R. South Serm. preached Nov. 9, 1662 21 The Will..was subordinate..to the Understanding..as a Queen to her King; who both acknowledges a Subjection, and yet retains a Majesty.
1729 T. Consett in tr. Present State Church of Russia I. Pref. p. xi The Subjection of the Russian Church to that of Constantinople.
1799 P. Allwood Literary Antiq. Greece v. 353 His kingdom was soon reduced to its former state of vassalage and subjection.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion iii. 107 By philosophic discipline prepared For calm subjection to acknowledged law. View more context for this quotation
1869 J. S. Mill (title) The subjection of women.
1872 J. Yeats Growth Commerce 58 The patriotic spirit..lost its force in a common subjection to Rome.
1922 B. K. Sarkar Futurism of Young Asia v. 343 The ‘Indian States’..cover, in various degrees of subjection to Great Britain, over a third of the South Asian sub-continent.
1999 J. Wood Broken Estate 74 A Doll's House tells the story of a woman's subjection to, and eventual escape from, her husband.
4. † b. The condition of being under some necessity or obligation; a duty or task; an infliction. Obsolete.
a. Legal or contractual obligation or liability.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal obligation > [noun]
dutyc1385
subjectiona1475
engagement1636
obstriction1671
obligation1887
a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1905) i. 342 With-out any subieccion as any of that same hold ought, sauf only the forsaide xij d. vnto the workes of the forsaid chirch yerely.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 180 [If] a man suld..defend his frende jn his presence jniurit, sa is he nocht bounde to na subiectioun of law tharfore.
1596 J. Norden Progr. Pietie f. 88 Let our humilitie, loue and free obedience..be greater then our ciuill subiection.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xlii. 297 Sliely slip off the Collar of their Civill Subjection.
1714 ‘Philoclerus’ Speculum Sarisburianum 86 If there was only a legal Sovereignty, and a legal Subjection, what occasion, is there for the Word Natural, which seems opposed to Legal?
1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Massachusets-Bay, 1628–91 (ed. 2) ii. 251 They distinguished civil subjection, into necessary and voluntary.
1769 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. IV. ii. 28 The obligation of civil subjection, whereby the inferior is constrained by the superior to act contrary to what his own reason and inclination would suggest.
1839 J. Bouvier Law Dict. U.S.A. II. 416/2 Subjection, the obligation of..persons to act at the discretion, or according to the judgment and will of others.
1913 P. V. N. Myers Hist. as Past Ethics xi. 214 (note) This legal subjection of the son to the father, while it developed and strengthened the virtue of obedience, seemed to deaden filial affection.
2000 J. Neugroschel tr. L. von Sacher-Masoch Venus in Furs Introd. p. xviii His legal subjection to her..stipulated conditions that were not altogether alien to European and American society up until the middle of the nineteenth century.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > [noun] > state of being morally bound
subjection1581
beholdingnessa1586
obstriction1671
boundnessa1866
society > morality > duty or obligation > [noun] > a duty or moral necessity > an unwelcome duty
subjection1658
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. i. f. 3 I feele it a great trauell..to obserue such circumstances, as the qualitie of the persons, and mine owne honor require: which is nothing els but paine and subiection [Fr. suiection].
1658 J. Evelyn tr. N. de Bonnefons French Gardiner 261 Tis too great a subjection to gather their blossomes.
1659 J. Evelyn Let. 9 Aug. in Diary & Corr. (1852) III. 115 The many subjections, which I cannot support, of conversing with mechanical capricious persons.
a1706 J. Evelyn Life Mrs. Godolphin (1939) 93 I tell [you] she look'd upon it [sc. being obliged to play at cards] as a Calamity & Subjection uns-fferable.
1719 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (ed. 7) 313 The only Subjection we are obliged to in such Grounds, is, first, to weed much.
1739 C. Forman tr. H. de Boulainvilliers Hist. Acct. Antient Parl. France II. xii. 198 It would be a great subjection both for him, and his successors, which neither he nor they would care to lay themselves under.
1882 tr. in A. Rodriguez Pract. Christian & Relig. Perfection I. vii. x. 381 If you think it too great a subjection to examine yourself every hour of the day. [etc.].
a. The subjects of a ruler collectively. Cf. subject n. 3c. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > [noun] > one subject to authority > of a monarch or ruler > collectively
land and ledeOE
ledesOE
lede folkc1275
peoplec1390
subjection1502
subject?1601
ruled1606
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) v. iii. sig. oo.iiii Ye subieccyon agayn theyr prelates, ye chyldren agayne ye fader & moder.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 302 How populous the land from whence they came was, may be collected..from their ability in commanding so mighty subjections . View more context for this quotation
b. The condition of being a subject; (also) the obligations relating to this. Obsolete.Some editors consider that quot. a16161 exemplifies sense 5a or sense 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > [noun] > condition of being a subject
subjectiona1616
subjectship1775
subjectdom1848
subjecthood1856
society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > [noun] > state of being morally bound > as a subject
subjectiona1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iv. i. 145 The King..who to disobey, were against all proportion of subiection . View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. iii. 19 I dare be bound hee's true, and shall performe All parts of his subiection loyally. View more context for this quotation
1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. B4 The Duke of Northumberland..rose..as high as subjection could permit, or Soveraigntie indure.
6.
a. The condition of being subject, exposed, or liable to something; exposure, liability.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > [noun] > ability or liability to be affected
danger1377
subjection1593
susceptiblenessa1631
susceptibility1644
obnoxiety1656
obviousness1669
receptiveness1701
sensibility1703
affectibility1817
sensitiveness1825
impressionability1835
impressionality1884
affectability1908
1593 A. Munday tr. C. Estienne Def. Contraries 39 They are free from subiection to eie medicines, which they haue need to practise, that are subiect to the eyes inflamation.
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 128 His subiection to death; as a qualitie of his being.
1699 Bp. G. Burnet Expos. Thirty-nine Articles 109 This Subjection to Death, and to the Fear of it, brings men under a slavish Bondage.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 67 King James..would often say, ‘that his access to the Crown of England was the more valuable to him, as it redeem'd him from the subjection to the ill manners..of those Preachers’.
1758 J. Dalrymple Ess. Hist. Feudal Prop. (ed. 2) 154 In respect of subjection to forfeiture.
1813 T. Busby in tr. Lucretius Nature of Things I. iii. Comm. p. xxx If..the only obligated difference..be its subjection to mortality.
1871 Primitive Methodist Mag. Sept. 543 We never understand subjection of animated bodies to death to be a subjection to annihilation of any particle of matter.
1929 J. C. Powys Meaning of Culture ix. 174 It is perhaps only by long subjection to the elements, by putting up with rain and wind and frost for a long while, that we come to share the stoicism of trees and animals.
1940 Brit. Red Cross Soc. Cookery & Catering Man. (ed. 4) v. 56 Mildew or mould is due to storage in damp, badly ventilated stores, or subjection to extensive variations of temperature.
2000 G. Meilaender Neither Beast nor God viii. 96 In our common subjection to mortality..we may come to perceive dimly our equal dignity.
b. The action or fact of subjecting something to a particular process or procedure.
ΚΠ
1790 ‘S. Search’ Spirit of Times 51 The moral character of the judges, and..the subjection of their decisions to the revisal of a superior court, whenever it so pleased the parties, have been the principal causes of this difference.
1803 S. Miller Brief Retrospect 18th Cent. I. i. 33 This subjection of the magnetic principles to the most precise and definite of all species of investigation does not appear to have led..to any extraordinary discoveries.
1874 Chem. News 23 Oct. 191/1 The oxybromide is..decomposed on subjection to a long-continued process of washing with water.
1910 Independent (N.Y.) 6 Jan. 1090/1 The subjection of these records to careful examination shows conclusively that each one of the Gospels is an interpretation of the character and work of Jesus, based on earlier documents, historical facts, [etc.].
1958 New Scientist 13 Nov. 1258/1 The only class of stone which remained uniformly rough after subjection to simulated wheel polishing in the laboratory machine was that of the gritstone group.
2003 H. Hills Archit. & Politics of Gender 5 Architecture evades ready subjection to the sorts of analysis developed in relation to figurative art.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > manifestation > offering for inspection or consideration > [noun]
production1470
subjection1615
1615 T. Adams White Deuill (ed. 4) 100 The most simple; who better vnderstand a spiritual doctrine, by the reall subiection of some thing familiar to their senses.
II. In various other senses.† 8. [By association with suggestion n.; compare subjestion n.] = suggestion n. Obsolete.† 9. Rhetoric. An answer added by a speaker to a question just asked; the figure involving this; an additional statement, corollary. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > [noun] > incitement or instigation > suggestion
propositiona1382
suggestion1382
subjectionc1405
subjestion1443
incasting1469
submonition1562
suggestc1614
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §277 The firste thyng is..thilke flesshly concupisence, and after that comth the subieccioun [c1415 Corpus Oxf. suggestion, Lansd. suggestione] of the deuel.
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 77 The kinge, thorughe her false subieccion, putte Ioseph into stronge prison.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [noun] > an answer, response > to a question > supplied by the speaker
subjection1555
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of structure or thought > [noun] > rhetorical question > speaker's own answer to
subjection1555
1555 R. Sherry Treat. Figures Gram. & Rhetorike f. 34v Subiection is, when we aunswer to our owne demaunde.
1608 Bp. J. King Serm. 5 Nov. 13 For what hath the righteous done? The subiection or answere implied must needs be, nihil, iust nothing.
1652 T. Urquhart Εκσκυβαλαυρον 279 The refutative Schemes of Anticipation and Subjection.
1659 J. Leak tr. I. de Caus New Inventions Water-works Pref. 3 If we should build upon this Rule of Archimedes, That the Superficies of the Water is Spherical..there will follow a Subjection that we must hold in the Demonstrations; viz. That the Superficies of the Water is Circular.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Subjection..is used for a brief answer to a preceding interrogation.
10. Logic. The act of supplying a subject to a predicate.
ΚΠ
1839 G. Field Outl. Analogic. Philos. I. 101 Adjectives by subjection become Substantives; thus, good becomes goodness.
1851 A. De Morgan in Trans. Cambr. Philos. Soc. 9 432 Predication is posterior to subjection; the subject comes first into thought, and the question of predication follows.
2000 T. Lamarre Uncovering Heian Japan ii. vi. 132 Tokieda sees the structure of the Japanese sentence in terms of boxes within boxes... Rather than subjects and predicates, with subjection and predication, he finds nested or embedded structures.
Phrases
in (also †to, †under) subjection: in (into, or under) the dominion or control of a superior power.Originally in sense 2; now felt as belonging to sense 3. [Compare Anglo-Norman a subjectiun, adesuz subjectiun, en subjectiun, Middle French en subjection.]
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > in or into subjection [phrase]
in (also to, under) subjectiona1387
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 219 (MED) Þe creatures þat were i-ȝeue man to..bere vp febilnesse, to seruise and subiectioun, to merour..of wondres now..fleeþ mannys siȝt and his felawschippe.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. l. 683 Cirus..Of Babiloine al that Empire..Put under in subjeccioun.
c1405 (c1375) G. Chaucer Monk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 380 He..This wide world hadde in subieccioun.
c1475 (?a1439) J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Harl. 2251) in Select. Minor Poems (1840) 90 Of Assurye to rekne the kynges alle, Whiche had that lond under subjeccioune.
a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) i. xv. sig. e.viv Lowly submyttynge her, vnder subieccyon.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms viii. 6 Thou hast put all thinges in subieccion vnder his fete.
?1592 Trag. Solyman & Perseda iii. i. 148 Till thou hast brought Rhodes in subiection.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. i. 5 To whom I am now in Ward, euermore in subiection. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 1128 Both in subjection now To sensual Appetite. View more context for this quotation
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 46 They [sc. the military force] will ever keep the Parliament in subjection to them.
1758 J. Dalrymple Ess. Hist. Feudal Prop. (ed. 2) 3 The modern European colonies are kept in subjection..to their native country.
1854 J. H. Newman Lect. Hist. Turks ii. 111 The Caliph..was in subjection to a family of the old Persian race.
1862 B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. II. ii. 62 A well-regulated imagination, which is kept in subjection to the judgment.
1993 J. McManners Oxf. Hist. Christianity viii. 287 To the Ranters, sin was an invention of priests and rulers to keep men in subjection.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1384