Dictionary
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. Eccles.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.
