Etymograph

English

subject

Subject comes from Middle English subget, from Old French suget, from Latin subiectus ‘lying under; subject’, past participle of subiciō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubiciō1‘throw’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubiectus1‘lying under or near’past participle of subiciō
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400suget1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500subget1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1590subject1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English subject
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto XI: “Long he them bore above the subject plain”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubiciōWiktionary, English subject‘throw’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubiectusWiktionary, English subject‘lying under or near’past participle of subiciō
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sugetWiktionary, English subject
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500subgetWiktionary, English subject
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1590subjectWiktionary, English subject. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto XI: “Long he them bore above the subject plain”

A compound of sub ‘under, at the foot of’ + iaciō ‘throw, hurl’

Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up; from below’

Proto-Italic *supo ‘under’

Latin sub ‘under, at the foot of’

Proto-Indo-European *(H)ih₁-k-(i-)

Proto-Italic *jak-i-

Latin iaciō ‘throw, hurl’

Explore everything descended from subiciō →

Another origin of subject

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubiciō‘throw, lay, place’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubiectus‘a subject, an inferior’past participle of subiciō
  3. Englishtodaysubject

Another origin of subject

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500subiciō‘throw, lay, place’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500subiectōiterative of subiciō
  3. Englishtodaysubject

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Today it means

adj Likely to be affected by or to experience something; liable.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “subject”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin subiciō / subject