• Discipline

    Pronunciation

    • US IPA: /ˈdɪ.sÉ™.plɪn/

    Origin

    From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French descipline, from Latin disciplina ("instruction") and discipulus ("pupil"), from discere ("to learn"), from Proto-Indo-European *dek- ("(cause to) accept").

    Full definition of discipline

    Noun

    discipline

    (plural disciplines)
    1. A controlled behaviour; self-control.
      • RogersThe most perfect, who have their passions in the best discipline, are yet obliged to be constantly on their guard.
    2. An enforced compliance or control.
    3. A systematic method of obtaining obedience.
      • C. J. SmithDiscipline aims at the removal of bad habits and the substitution of good ones, especially those of order, regularity, and obedience.
    4. A state of order based on submission to authority.
      • DrydenTheir wildness lose, and, quitting nature's part,
        Obey the rules and discipline of art.
    5. A punishment to train or maintain control.
      • Addisongiving her the discipline of the strap
    6. A set of rules regulating behaviour.
    7. A flagellation as a means of obtaining sexual gratification.
    8. A specific branch of knowledge or learning.
      • 2013-08-03, Boundary problems, Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.
    9. A category in which a certain art, sport or other activity belongs.

    Synonyms

    Antonyms

    Derived terms

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To train someone by instruction and practice.
    2. (transitive) To teach someone to obey authority.
    3. (transitive) To punish someone in order to (re)gain control.
    4. (transitive) To impose order on someone.

    Synonyms

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