discipline

Etymology

From Middle English [Term?], from Anglo-Norman, from Old French descipline, from Latin disciplina (“instruction”), from discipulus (“pupil”), from discere (“to learn”), from Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“(cause to) accept”).

noun

1. A controlled behaviour; self-control.
   1. An enforced compliance or control.
      The masters looked unusually stern, but it was the sternness of thought rather than of discipline. 1956, Michael Arlen, “1/1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days
   2. A systematic method of obtaining obedience.
      Discipline aims at the removal of bad habits and the substitution of good ones, especially those of order, regularity, and obedience. 1871, Charles John Smith, Synonyms Discriminated
      Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 1973, Bible (New International Version), Hebrews 12:7
   3. A state of order based on submission to authority.
      Their wildness lose, and, quitting nature's part, / Obey the rules and discipline of art.
   4. A set of rules regulating behaviour.
   5. A punishment to train or maintain control.
      1. (Catholicism) A whip used for self-flagellation.
      2. A flagellation as a means of obtaining sexual gratification.
2. A specific branch of knowledge, learning, or practice.
   Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. 2013-08-03, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847
   This mathematical discipline, by the help of geometrical principles, doth teach to contrive several weights and powers unto motion or rest. 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick
   1. A category in which a certain art, sport or other activity belongs.

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.