discipline: Meaning and Definition of

dis•ci•pline

Pronunciation: (dis'u-plin), [key]
— n., v., -plined, -plin•ing.
—n.
  1. training to act in accordance with rules; drill: military discipline.
  2. activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer.
  3. punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.
  4. the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity, etc.: the harsh discipline of poverty.
  5. behavior in accord with rules of conduct; behavior and order maintained by training and control: good discipline in an army.
  6. a set or system of rules and regulations.
  7. the system of government regulating the practice of a church as distinguished from its doctrine.
  8. an instrument of punishment, esp. a whip or scourge, used in the practice of self-mortification or as an instrument of chastisement in certain religious communities.
  9. a branch of instruction or learning: the disciplines of history and economics.
—v.t.
  1. to train by instruction and exercise; drill.
  2. to bring to a state of order and obedience by training and control.
  3. to punish or penalize in order to train and control; correct; chastise.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
See also: