Meaning & use
discipline
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Meanings
noununcountable
The ability to make yourself follow a routine or rule and keep working, even when you would rather not.
Grammar: Not used with an or a plural: she has great discipline, not a great discipline.
Patterns
- discipline to do something
- lack discipline
It takes discipline to get up at five and run before work.
The team showed real discipline and never panicked when behind.
Learning an instrument demands daily discipline.
noununcountable
A system of training that makes people obey rules, or the control that results from it, especially in schools, the army or families.
Grammar: Often appears with maintain, enforce or keep: keep discipline in the classroom.
Patterns
- maintain discipline
- strict discipline
The new head teacher restored discipline within a month.
Military discipline starts on the first day of training.
Parents disagree about how much discipline young children need.
nouncountableformal
A particular branch of study or area of knowledge, such as history or physics.
Grammar: Takes a plural: several disciplines.
Patterns
- in the discipline of something
- across disciplines
Economics is a social science discipline.
Her research crosses the boundaries between several disciplines.
Each scientific discipline has its own methods.
verbtransitive
To punish someone for breaking a rule, or to train someone to behave in an orderly, controlled way.
Grammar: Takes an object: discipline a child; discipline yourself to save money.
Patterns
- discipline someone for something
- discipline yourself to do something
The company disciplined two employees for sharing private data.
He disciplined himself to write for an hour every morning.
Teachers should discipline pupils fairly and consistently.
Word forms
| plural | disciplines |
|---|---|
| third person singular | disciplines |
| past tense | disciplined |
| past participle | disciplined |
| -ing form | disciplining |
Common combinations
- strict discipline
- The boarding school was known for its strict discipline.
- self-discipline
- Saving money takes self-discipline.
- maintain discipline
- It is hard to maintain discipline in a crowded classroom.
- academic discipline
- Linguistics is an academic discipline with many branches.
- disciplinary action
- The club took disciplinary action against the player.
Synonyms and how they differ
- self-control
- Self-control focuses on holding back impulses, while discipline also covers sticking to a long routine.
- order
- Order describes the calm state of a group, whereas discipline is the training or rules that produce it.
- punish
- Punish only means to inflict a penalty, but to discipline can also mean to train someone toward good habits.
- field
- Field is a looser word for an area of work or study, while discipline suggests an established academic subject.
Opposites
Word family
- disciplined adjective
- able to control yourself and work steadily
- disciplinary adjective
- relating to punishment for breaking rules
- self-discipline noun
- the ability to control your own behavior
- interdisciplinary adjective
- involving more than one field of study
Commonly confused: discipline or disciple?
discipline vs disciple
A disciple is a follower of a teacher or leader, not training or order, though the two words share a root.
Practice
The coach praised the squad for the ______ they showed in sticking to the training plan.
Choose one answer.
Discipline here means steady self-control in following a routine. Disciple is a person who follows a teacher, so it does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “discipline”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.