Discipline, Oed

2092015 discipline, n. : Oxford English Dictionary

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Pronunciation:

discipline, n. Brit. /ˈdɪsᵻplᵻn/ , U.S. /ˈdɪsəplən/

Forms: ME dicipline, ME disciplin, ME disciplyn, ME dysplyn, ME dyssepleyne, ME dysyplyn,ME 16 discepline, ME–15 discyplyne, ME–15 dyscipline, ME–15 dysciplyne, ME–15 dyscyplyne,ME–16 disciplyne, ME–16 discypline, ME–16 dyssiplyne, ME– discipline, 15–16 dissipline, 15–16dyssyplyne, 16 decipline, 16 diceplen; Sc. pre17 deciplin, pre17 disceplin, pre17 dischipline, pre17 discipleine, pre17 disciplen, pre17 disciplene, pre17 disciplene, pre17 disciplyn, pre17disciplyne, pre17 17– discipline. N.E.D. (1896) also records a form of the beginning of the word MEdyssy.

Etymology: < (i) AngloNorman dicepline, discepline, AngloNorman and Old French decepline, decipline,desepline, descepline, AngloNorman and Middle French discipline, Middle French disipline, dissipline(French discipline ) massacre, carnage (c1100), teaching, instruction (first half of the 12th cent.), rule or bodyof rules for conduct or action (first half of the 12th cent.), punishment, chastisement (c1170), punishment orchastisement either imposed by ecclesiastical authority or voluntarily undertaken as penance (1174; frequentlywith reference to mortification of the flesh), selfcontrol, selfdiscipline (last quarter of the 12th cent. orearlier), branch of learning or knowledge (c1370), knowledge of military matters (beginning of the 15th cent.,originally and chiefly in discipline de chevalerie ), whip, scourge (1433), act of scourging undertaken as apenitential exercise (1451), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin disciplīna (also discipulīna ) teaching, instruction, training, branch ofstudy, philosophical school or sect, system, practice, method, orderly conduct based on moral training, ordermaintained in a body of people, in postclassical Latin also moral law, obedience to divine law, divinewarning or punishment (Vulgate), religious doctrine (late 2nd cent. in Tertullian), monastic rule,chastisement (6th cent.), scourging (7th cent.) < discipulus DISCIPLE n. + īna INE suffix .The Latin word was also borrowed into other European languages. Compare Old Occitan disciplina, disiplina, desiplina,

Catalan disciplina (13th cent.), Spanish disciplina (1250), Portuguese disciplina (14th cent.), Italian disciplina (c1300), all in a

similar range of senses. Compare also Middle Dutch disciplīne, disciplijn (Dutch discipline), Middle Low German disciplīne (only

in sense ‘penitential exercise’), Old High German (in an apparently isolated attestation) disciplina branch of learning or

knowledge (Middle High German disciplīn, German Disciplin, now Disziplin, in early use chiefly in senses relating to

punishment, from the 16th cent. also in sense ‘branch of learning or knowledge’).

I. Senses relating to punishment.

1. Christian Church. Punishment or chastisement either imposed byecclesiastical authority or voluntarily undertaken as penance; esp.mortification of the flesh (as by fasting, scourging, etc.) as a token ofrepentance and as a means of satisfaction for sin. Also: a penitentialact of this sort.

a1225 (OE) Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) lv. 113 Gyf hi hwa habbe..þæt heo fram hireabbodesse ne onfeng.., underlicge þeo þære hefeȝestan & þære stiðesten discepline [OECorpus Cambr. þreale; L. disciplinae].

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues 125 Apprehendite disciplinam..Nemeð discipline of alle ðemisdades ðe ȝe deð..mid fasten..wake..wope and sare beriwsinge.

c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 2345 in C. Horstmann Early S.Eng. Legendary (1887) 173 Of

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euerech Monek of þe hous he tok is discipline With a smart ȝeorde.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 236 Hit behoueþ þet uless [= flesh] beate and wesse be dissiplines and behardnesses.

a1425 Rule St. Benet (Lansd.) (1902) 7 Yef any sal take discipline, gruching sal sho make nane.

1483 tr. Adam of Eynsham Reuelation iii, Alle that were there with grete [con]tricion of herte tokediscyplynys of roddys.

1509 J. FISHER Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Aiv, Y

blessyd Martha is praysed in chastysynge her body by crysten dyscyplyne.

1567 W. ALLEN Treat. Def. Priesthod 228 In most Churches there remaineth a smal signe, bydisciplin geven to y people with rods on y same daies.

1620 T. SHELTON tr. Cervantes 2nd Pt. Don Quixote IV. xxv. 277 They did institute Rogations,Processions, and Disciplines throughout all that Country.

1686 J. S. Hist. Monastical Convent. 34 If any be found unchast, she receives three Disciplines orScourgings.

1769 W. ROBERTSON Hist. Charles V III. XII. 415 As an expiation for his sins, he gave himself thediscipline in secret with such severity, that the whip of cords which he employed..were foundafter his decease tinged with his blood.

1855 Crayon 21 June 392/2 To these preparatives [sc. prayer, fasting, and the Eucharist] Luis deVarzas added the occasional discipline of the scourge.

1888 ‘BERNARD’ From World to Cloister v. 113 The corporal austerities which are known as ‘thediscipline’.

1902 tr. in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. 16 458 To fast every Friday, and sit on the ground and receive adiscipline.

1975 J. A. HARDON Catholic Catech. xv. 562 The intercession of confessors..was allowed by theecclesiastical authorities to shorten the canonical discipline of those under penance.

2009 J. KERR Life in Medieval Cloister vii. 146 Anyone who remained away for more than a weekbut less than forty days received in addition fifteen disciplines and was excluded fromcommunion for a year.

2. gen. Punishment (esp. physical punishment) imposed with theintention of controlling or correcting future behaviour; castigationfor a misdemeanour or transgression, usually with the implication ofbeing salutary to the recipient; chastisement. Also: an instance ofthis.

c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) xxii. 5(MED), Þy discipline [L. virga] and þyn amendyng conforted me.

a1393 GOWER Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) V. 5326 This sterne king..Tok every day on of the Nyne,And put him to the discipline Of Minotaure, to be devoured.

a1460 Knyghthode & Bataile (Pembr. Cambr. 243) 871 If a knyght offende, At his precepte hewas put to juesse By the trybune..His cure it was tordeyn, and disciplyne Vnto euery man,seuerous or benygne.

1613 J. FLORIO tr. Montaigne Ess. (rev. ed.) II. i. 187 Uenus hirself ministreth resolution andhardinesse vnto tender youth as yet subject to the discipline of the rod, and teacheth theruthlesse Souldier.

a1652 R. BROME Court Begger V. i. sig. R6, in Five New Playes (1653) Cou. Prethee forbeare him:Hee's not worth thy anger. Sw. Anger! Is every Schoolemaster angry that gives Discipline

e

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with correction?

1693 J. LOCKE Some Thoughts conc. Educ. 96 There will be but very few Occasions of thatDiscipline [sc. beating] to be used by any one, who considers well, and orders his Child'sEducation as it should be.

1704 T. BROWN tr. C. García France & Spain naturally Enemies i. 5 Some Malefactor that wasreceiving the wholesome Discipline of a DogWhip in the streets for nimming of Cloaks, orstealing of Silver Spoons.

c1790 J. WILLOCK Voy. diverse parts 36 With a rope'send..he continued this discipline till herendered me incapable of moving.

1811 Sporting Mag. 37 133 [She] came in for her share of the discipline which her husband wasundergoing.

1883 J. W. BUEL Myst. & Miseries America's Great Cities 196 The indignant wife produced hercowhide, and..assailed the wench whom her husband was coddling, and administered adiscipline which might be an example for any Delaware sheriff.

1903 C. G. HARPER Stagecoach & Mail in Days of Yore II. x. 242 A scientific punisher of refractoryhorses..accompanying the corrective discipline of the whip with much grim humour.

1978 Family Law Q. 12 2 [The parent] may impose reasonable discipline, including corporaldiscipline, upon his child for the purposes of correction and training.

2011 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 20 Mar. 16 C, Fines were often the harshest disciplineimposed this past season.

3. concr. An instrument of chastisement; a whip, a scourge; esp. oneused for religious penance.

1586 R. CROWLEY Fryer Iohn Frauncis: Replication to Lewde Aunswere Ep. Ded. sig. *iv, Thenwyll I..whyppe my selfe with a discipline, as Fryer John doth nowe whyppe himselfe there.

1622 H. PEACHAM Compl. Gentleman 120 By Chastity standeth Pennance having driven away withher discipline Winged Love.

1630 J. WADSWORTH Eng. Spanish Pilgrime (new ed.) iii. 20 Approaching his bed side with twogood disciplines in their hands, the ends of some stucke with wyery prickes, they did..raze hisskinne.

1707 J. STEVENS tr. F. de Quevedo y Villegas Comical Wks. 286 The Whipsters..laid aside theirDisciplines.

1784 London Mag. Sept. 196/1 The abbess condemned them both to receive every morning a dozenof stripes with a discipline.

1825 SCOTT Talisman iv, in Tales Crusaders III. 95 On the floor lay a discipline, or penitentialscourge.

1848 J. H. NEWMAN Loss & Gain III. x. 376 In the cell..hangs an iron discipline or scourge, studdedwith nails.

1949 E. WAUGH Let. 12 Apr. (1980) 296, I saw a lovely reproduction..of a nun by candle light witha discipline. Very erotic.

2001 C. HOWSE Pilgrim in Spain ix. 139 On Fridays, when bread and water was his food, Johnwas brought to the refectory and knelt as the brethren of the eightstrong monastery scourgedhim with a discipline.

II. Senses relating to training, instruction, or method. 4.



a. Instruction or teaching intended to mould the mind andcharacter and instil a sense of proper, orderly conduct and action;training to behave or act in a controlled and effective manner;mental, intellectual, moral, or spiritual training or exercise. Alsoapplied to the effect of an experience or undertaking (as, study,adversity, etc.) considered as imparting such training.

Sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense 2, esp. in contexts where punishment isemployed to reinforce such training.

c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) xvii.39 (MED), And þy discipline [L. disciplina] amended me on ende, and þy discipline onlichshal teche me.

a1393 GOWER Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) V. l. 6731 This Maiden..hadde be..Under hir moderdiscipline A clene Maide and a Virgine.

1434 R. MISYN tr. R. Rolle Mending of Life 112 Qwhat is disciplyne bot settyng of maners orcorrectynge?..Be disciplyne we ar taght rightwysnes, & of ill correctyd.

1573 T. COOPER Briefe Expos. f. 345, He [sc. God] maketh it to them as a Schoole of discipline toretaine them in more Feare of his name, that they be not caried away with the wickedAllurements of the worlde.

1612 BACON Ess. (new ed.) 26 Certainely, wife and children are a kinde of discipline of humanity.

1697 DRYDEN tr. Virgil Georgics III, in tr. Virgil Wks. 106 The pamper'd Colt will Disciplinedisdain.

1736 BP. J. BUTLER Analogy of Relig. I. v. 80 The present Life was intended to be a State ofDiscipline for a future one.

1741 C. MIDDLETON Hist. Life Cicero I. VI. 461 Caelius..was a young Gentleman..trained under thediscipline of Cicero himself.

1849 T. B. MACAULAY Hist. Eng. II. 240 A mind on which all the discipline of experience andadversity had been exhausted in vain.

1857 J. RUSKIN Polit. Econ. Art i. 23 The notion of Discipline and Interference lies at the very rootof all human progress or power.

1862 B. BRODIE Psychol. Inq. II. v. 177 No part of early education is more important than thediscipline of the imagination.

1892 B. F. WESTCOTT Gospel of Life 270 Every sorrow and pain is an element of discipline.

1921 J. JASTROW Char. & Temperament iv. 189 The natural tendency in a highly socializedindividual to respond to the approval and disapproval of others..is reenforced and directed bydiscipline of parent and teacher and world at large.

1933 Jrnl. Nat. Assoc. Biblical Instructors 1 12/2 The student who approaches the Bible from anhistorical viewpoint has opportunity then for valuable intellectual discipline.

2012 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 30 Mar. Pupils are being allowed to run wild..because of a lack of properdiscipline in the home, it was claimed.

b. An activity, experience, exercise, etc. which provides suchinstruction or training.

1785 T. REID Ess. Intellect. Powers xxii. 297 His suffering proves a salutary discipline, and makeshim for the future avoid the cause of it.



1811 Monthly Mag. Nov. 322/2 It would be difficult to ascertain the different degrees of utilitywhich the different branches of the mathematical sciences possess; but it is sufficient toobserve that, as a discipline of the mind, they have, all of them, a considerable degree ofutility.

1890 Musical Times 1 Mar. 151/1 It would be a beneficial discipline to him..were he to perfecthimself in the art of writing counterpoint before offering other compositions for publicjudgment.

1908 C. C. GAINES Simplified Phonetic Shorthand (rev. ed.) xxvi. 90 As a valuable intellectualdiscipline we have arranged a series of exercises for the study of synonyms and homonyms.

1974 Black Belt July 19/2 Tai chi chuan..was not originally developed as a martial art, but ratheras a discipline with emphasis on selfcontrol and total selfawareness.

1983 Texas Monthly July 148/2 The light box was a valuable discipline for Corpron, but she gother best and most personal pictures when she once again took her camera outside its rigidproscenium.

2012 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 7 Apr. (Gardening section) 9 A useful discipline is to get used to using awatering can. You'll have no choice if your water company has imposed a hosepipe ban, andthe exercise will do you good.

5.

†a. Instruction as given to disciples, scholars, etc.; schooling,teaching. Also: the result of this; education, learning, knowledge.Obs.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. iii. 4 Thou shalt finde grace, and gooddiscipline [a1425 L.V. teching; L. disciplinam] befor God and men.

a1460 Knyghthode & Bataile (Pembr. Cambr. 243) l. 2773 The maryners..haue al this art Ofwydiringe..By discipline of it ha thei no part, But of a longe vsage or exercise.

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl.) (1865) I. 81 Somme peple tylle theerthe..somme intende to sapience and discipline.

?1518 A. BARCLAY tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. H, If thou haue in greke, had all thydyscyplyne To dyspute in latin: what nedeth the to seke.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxiij , He firste holpe his awne young scholers, to attein to

discipline, and for them he founded a solempne schoole at Eton.

1609 SHAKESPEARE Troilus & Cressida II. iii. 28 Heauen blesse thee from a tutor, and disciplinecome not neere thee.

1615 Stow's Annals (1631) 307/2 Apt to all offices of worthinesse, if in his childhood hee had notwanted discipline.

1693 tr. G. de Foigny New Discov. Terra Incognita vii. 86 They usually are three years under theConduct of the first Master, and after pass under the Discipline of the second, who teachesthem to write.

b. A particular school or method of instruction; an educationalphilosophy. See also discipline of the secret n. at Phrases.

1545 G. JOYE Expos. Daniel i. 15 Thei be taught to enstructe and bringe vp siche yonge men in theknowlege of tongues and worde of god, as here doth the kinge to Daniel and his felowscausing them to be lerned in all the discipline of the chaldeis.

v



1605 W. CAMDEN Remaines I. 10 Our countrimen have twice beene schoolemaisters to France. Firstwhen they taught the Gaules the discipline of the Druides; and after [etc.].

a1652 I. JONES Most Notable Antiq. called StoneHeng (1655) 12 They communicated nothing, butto those of their own society, taking speciall order..their discipline might not be divulged.

1714 T. HEARNE Ductor Historicus (ed. 3) I. III. 414 He addicted himself to the Discipline ofPythagoras.

1836 W. D. CONYBEARE Elem. Course Theol. Lect. (ed. 2) App. 507 The Sophists who in the middleof the third century revived the Platonic discipline, coupling it with that of these laterPythagoreans.

2000 W. J. GASPARSKI in V. Alexandre Roots Praxiology 83 The pythagorean discipline governseverything in man, from the most insignificant acts..up to the deepest impulses of hisconscience.

c. A period or course of training or education. Now rare.

1676 A. SAMMES Britannia Antiqua Illustrata 102 The Commonalty were kept in Ignorance, andnone permitted to understand any thing, unless they admitted themselves of this Order, andunderwent the severities of a long and tedious Discipline.

1808 BYRON Let. 21 Jan. in T. Moore Let. & Jrnls. Lord Byron (1830) I. xxi. 109 Of the classics, Iknow about as much as most schoolboys after a discipline of thirteen years.

1863 J. VON GUMPACH Babyworlds App. 199 [Cyrus] was, for the sake of his education, placed forone year in the class of boys; then entered the class of youths; and after a discipline of tenyears, left it as a fullgrown man.

1914 E. B. USHER Wisconsin VII. 1964 After a discipline of two years in the law office of hishonored preceptor and virtual guardian he was admitted to the bar.

6. A system or method for the maintenance of order; a body of rulesfor conduct or action; a way of doing things.

a1393 GOWER Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) I. l. 942 (MED), Thou art of his [sc. Anubus's]discipline So holy, that no mannes myht Mai do that he hath do to nyht.

a1398 J. TREVISA tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II.XVIII. xii. 1141 Among hem [sc. bees] is wonder obseruaunce of discipline and of lore. Forþey..takeþ heede of hem þat worcheþ nouȝt. And chasteþ hem anoon.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 5491 Oure techis haue we schawid, Oure dedis & ofoure disciplyne.

1567 G. FENTON tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. f. 175, Folowyng the discipline of vertue,to susteine oure honest pouertye wyth the trauaile of oure handes.

1577 B. GOOGE tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry III. f. 153, The knowledge of keeping ofcattell hath a discipline, wherin a man must from his very Chyldehood be brought vp.

1612 W. STRACHEY Lawes 43 The discipline shall be strictly kept, and the offenders against thelawes thereof seuerely punished.

1656 B. HARRIS tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age I. II. iv. 39 The Mutiners governed themselves inform of a Republick, observing a most exact discipline.

1664 J. EVELYN Kalendarium Hortense 57 in Sylva Nor indeed could we think of a morecomprehensive Expedient, whereby to assist the frail and torpent Memory through somultifarious and numerous and Employment..then by the Oeconmy and Discipline into



which we have here resolv'd it.

1726 G. SHELVOCKE Voy. round World vii. 219 Had regulated themselves according to the Jamaicandiscipline.

1831 J. COMLY in Wks. Job Scott I. Advt. p.iv, In conformity with the discipline and regulations ofthe Yearly Meeting of Friends held in Philadelphia, the additional manuscripts have beensubmitted to the Committee.

1861 M. PATTISON in Westm. Rev. 19 415 The inmates..were submitted to an almost monasticdiscipline.

1903 Amer. Law Reg. 51 289 The courts will not review the judgments or acts of the governingauthorities of a religious organization..for the purpose of ascertaining their regularity oraccordance with the discipline and usages of such organization.

1989 R.P. MAHESHWARI Princ. Business Stud. (2004) i. 9 While earning profits, business must keepin view the social aspirations and observe the discipline of society.

2005 V. A. LAMBERT & C. E. LAMBERT in J. Daly et al. Professional Nursing ii. 34 The aides were tobe intensively trained..to conform to the discipline of the organization in which they worked.

7.

a. A branch of learning or knowledge; a field of study or expertise; asubject. Now also: a subcategory or element of a particular subject orfield.

a1398 J. TREVISA tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II.XVIII. xliv. 1195 Elephantes..kepeþ lore and discipline of þe sterres.

c1405 (c1395) CHAUCER Canon's Yeoman's Tale (Ellesmere) (1875) l. 1253 Assaye in mynabsence This disciplyne and this crafty science.

?a1513 W. DUNBAR Poems (1998) 266 To speik of science, craft or sapience..Off euerie study, lairor disciplene.

1549 COVERDALE et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Ephes. i. f. ii, Being singularely learnedin humayne disciplines, ye haue excelled other sortes of men euer vnto this day.

1597 T. MORLEY Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 184 Ye tearmeth he musick a perfect knowledge ofal sciences and disciplines.

1654 Z. COKE Art of Logick 2 Objective disciplines be..principally four. 1 Theologie. 2Jurisprudence. 3 Medicine. 4 Philosophy.

1686 R. BOYLE Free Enq. Notion Nature 375 Acquainted with PhysicoMathematical Disciplines,such as Opticks, Astronomy, Hydrostaticks, and Mechanicks.

1741 C. MIDDLETON Hist. Life Cicero I. vi. 454 Skill'd in all the Tuscan discipline of interpretingportentous events.

1788 T. TAYLOR tr. Proclus Philos. & Math. Comm. I. 64 The reasons or proportions of abundanceand sterility, permeate through all the mathematical disciplines.

1844 R. W. EMERSON New Eng. Reformers in Wks. (1906) I. 266 The culture of the mind in thosedisciplines to which we give the name of education.

1878 F. J. BELL tr. C. Gegenbaur Elements Compar. Anat. 1 The department of Science which hasorganic nature for its investigations, breaks up into two great divisions, Botany andZoology..The two disciplines together form the science of living nature.

1942 Spectator 27 Feb. 204/1 The distribution of academic disciplines in which they [sc.candidates for the Foreign Office] had specialised.

1962 Lancet 13 Jan. 113/1 Sir Leonard Parsons..had been the first to draw into the paediatrics of



his time other disciplines such as biochemistry and immunology.

1966 Tulane Drama Rev. 11 59 The..audiences..come from almost all artistic disciplines. Thosewho work with film in the New Theatre are sculptors, painters, dancers, musicians, and filmmakers.

1994 S. W. ITZKOFF Decline Intelligence in Amer. v. 53 The several disciplines of mathematics,algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus.

2011 Daily Tel. 20 Sept. 12/3 The English Baccalaureate, a school leaving certificate that rewardspupils who gain good GCSEs in traditional academic disciplines.

b. spec. A branch or field of sporting activity; a subcategory orelement of a particular sport.

1970 Jrnl. Confl. Resol. 14 27/2 There are differences in the degree of association in differentsport disciplines.

1973 Skiing 140/1 Back in 1971, a racer was able to count only his three best results for each of thethree disciplines: downhill, giant slalom, and slalom.

1994 Runner's World Feb. 45/1 He had flitted between the track and roads for many years,occasionally showing flashes of promise but never making a commitment to any onediscipline.

1999 Independent (Nexis) 16 Apr. 22 Becky, regarded as the brightest prospect in Britishgymnastics started her sport at five... Her favourite (and best) discipline is the asymmetricbars.

2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 28 Jan. VIII. 1/2 Duncan is a founder of the World Power SportsAssociation, which runs a national race series for snowmobile snocross, a discipline similarto motocross.

†8. Training or experience in the practice of arms, militarymanoeuvres, tactics, etc.; knowledge of military matters; martial skillor expertise. Obs.

?a1439 LYDGATE tr. Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) I. l. 5143 Hercules thoruh knyhtli disciplyne [Fr.discipline d'armes] Profitid so..That from all othre he bar awey the pris.

1489 CAXTON tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes I. ii. sig. Aij, Rules, techyngs and dyscyplyne ofarmes.

1555 R. EDEN tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde I. iv. f. 21, A man not ignorantin the disciplyne of warre.

1596 W. WARNER Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) IX. xlvi. 218 Martialists in Discipline and ordering theirwar.

1656 B. HARRIS tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age I. II. iv. 40 Schoole of warre..where all theMartiall Spirits resorted, to learn Discipline, and to put it in practice.

1700 G. BOOTH tr. Diodorus Siculus Hist. Libr. II. iii. 76 Amongst these Female Princes..there wasone..who got together an Army of Women, and having train'd them up in Martial Discipline,first subdu'd some of her Neighbouring Nations.

1702 (title) A military dictionary. Explaining all difficult terms in martial discipline, fortification,and gunnery.

1764 O. GOLDSMITH Hist. Eng. in Lett. II. xxv. 204 An enthusiast to the discipline of the field, hedesired to bring the spirit of a German campaign into the wilds of Niagara.



1824 J. STRYPE Ann. Reformation (new ed.) III. I. vii. 106 A book of martial discipline now alsocame forth in quarto.

†9. Medical regimen (REGIMEN n. 1a); an instance of this. Obs. rare.

?a1439 LYDGATE tr. Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) III. l. 2572 Ageyn siknesse men..Serche in phesiksundri disciplynes Them to diete in ther transgressiouns.

1754 E. MONTAGU Let. in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. (1880) II. 280 He has been underdiscipline for his eyes, but his spirits and vivacity are not abated.

1816 J. AUSTEN Let. 9 July (1995) 315 Her illness must have been a very serious one indeed... Tellyour Father I..most sincerely join in the hope of her being eventually much the better for herpresent Discipline.

?1859 W. M. WOOLER Physiol. Educ. xi. 179 Counterirritation and counteraction wouldhave..consummated the cure. He would not after this discipline, we think, have had any predisposition to spread dismay.

10. Christian Church.

a. The system by which the practice of a church, as distinguishedfrom its doctrine, is regulated; the ecclesiastical laws and customsrelating to the religious and moral life of the Church; spec. theecclesiastical polity adopted by Presbyterian and Independentchurches in the 16th and 17th cent. (cf. DISCIPLINARIAN n. 1) (now hist.).

Book of Discipline n. each of two documents, compiled in 1560 and 1578 respectively,constituting the original standards of the polity and government of the Reformed Church ofScotland, and also dealing with schools, universities, and other matters. Now also: a similardocument setting out the constitution, doctrine, and theology of the United MethodistChurch; any of several comparable documents for church bodies deriving from these Scottishand American sources.

1536 R. TAVERNER tr. P. Melanchthon Confessyon Fayth Germaynes sig. O.vii , By thys estate of

churches, it may be iudged that we do diligently obserue the ecclesiasticall discipline & godlyceremonies, and good customes of the churche.

a1572 J. KNOX Hist. Reformation Scotl. (1587) 546 The preachers vehemently exhorted vs toestablish the booke of discipline by an acte and publicke Law.

1588 W. TRAVERS (title) A defence of the ecclesiastical discipline ordayned of God to be vsed in hisChurch. Against a replie of Maister Bridges.

1593 R. HOOKER Of Lawes Eccl. Politie Pref. 10 That which Caluin did for establishment of hisdiscipline, seemeth more commendable then that which he taught for the countenancing of itestablished.

1612 B. JONSON Alchemist III. i. sig. F3 , This heate of his may turn into a zeale, And stand vp for

the beauteous discipline, Against the menstruous cloth, and ragg of Rome.

1621 D. CALDERWOOD Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1843) II. 50 At the same conventioun [1561], the Booke ofDiscipline was subscribed by a great part of the nobilitie.

1621 D. CALDERWOOD Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1843) II. 51 To establishe a more perfyte discipline, whichwas done twentie yeeres after..as we sall see in the Second Booke of Discipline.

1642 KING CHARLES I His Maiesties Royall Protestations 4 New doctrines and disciplines.

1676 W. HUBBARD Happiness of People 35 Wee in New England that profess the doctrine of

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Calvin, yet practise the discipline of them called Independant, or Congregational Churches.

1716 LADY M. W. MONTAGU Let. 14 Sept. (1965) I. 262, I have so far wander'd from the Discipline ofthe Church of England to have been last Sunday at the Opera.

1759 W. ROBERTSON Hist. Scotl. III, in Wks. (1813) I. 194 The first book of discipline..contains themodel or platform of the intended policy.

1792 E. BURKE Let. to H. Langrishe in Wks. (1842) I. 547 Three religions..each of which has itsconfession of faith and its settled discipline.

1860 J. LEE Hist. Church Scotl. I. 151 The first head of the original Book of Discipline treats ofDoctrine..The second head relates to Sacraments..The fourth head related to Ministers andtheir lawful election.

1874 J. R. GREEN Short Hist. Eng. People viii. §5. 509 The Presbyterian organization remaineduntouched in doctrine or discipline.

1885 W. E. ADDIS & T. ARNOLD Catholic Dict. (ed. 3) 265 Usually, discipline in its ecclesiasticalsense signifies the laws which bind the subjects of the Church in their conduct, as distinctfrom dogmas or articles of faith, which affect their belief.

1904 Monthly Rev. Oct. 6 The First or the Second Book of Discipline, which laid down theconstitution of the Church, or the Book of Common Order which settles its service.

1983 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 4 July I. 9 The church's Judicial Council ruled that nothing in theMethodist Book of Discipline specifically prohibited the appointment of a homosexual pastor.

2001 Church Times 2 Mar. 19/3 Other tensions affecting English Catholicism include thecapricious effects of the Church's marriage discipline, under which, in one victim's words,divorce and remarriage is the unforgivable sin.

b. gen. The system or method by which order is maintained within achurch, conformity to its laws and customs ensured, and controlexercised over the conduct of its members; the exercise of thiscontrol by means of censure, excommunication, or other penalmeasures. Cf. church discipline n. at CHURCH n. and adj. Compounds1a(b).

1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Firste Daie of Lente f. xxxi*, In the prymatiue churchethere was a godlye disciplyne, that at the begynnyng of lent suche persones as were notorioussynners, were put to open penaunce.

1561 T. NORTON tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. IV. xii. f. 74 , The first fundation of discipline is,

that priuate monitions shoulde haue place.

1574 A. GOLDING tr. A. Marlorat Catholike Expos. Reuelation 18 Our meeting vpon that day ratherthan vpon any other, is onely for orders sake, and for a certeine discipline in the Churche.

1611 in G. R. Kinloch Select. Minutes Synod of Fife (1837) 33 Forsamikle as dyverspersons..tak..occasioune to illude the Kirk discipline.

1621 First & Second Bk. Discipline (Church of Scotl.) 50 The order of Ecclesiasticall Discipline,which stands in reproving and correcting of the faults, which the civill Sword either dothneglect, or not punish.

1676 Rec. Inverness in W. Mackay Rec. Presbyteries Inverness & Dingwall (1896) 72 To sendhim back to satisfie the kirk discipline.

1734 M. T. Let. to Rev. Dr. Waterland 28 You insist on Church Discipline, and theExcommunication of all such as impugn the Catholick Faith.

1858 J. GARDNER Faiths of World (new ed.) I. 479/1 The ancient discipline of the church, while it

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excluded offenders from spiritual privileges, left all their natural or civil rights unaffected.

1946 Jrnl. Biblical Lit. 65 95 What course ecclesiastical discipline should take in dealing withbreaches of this teaching, is a question which involves the whole field of Christian theologyand ethics.

2008 Independent 8 Feb. 8/3 Canon law—the collection of ancient decrees which concerned thediscipline of the Early Christian church.

III. Senses relating to order arising from training or instruction.

11. Orderly conduct and action resulting from instruction ortraining; the quality or fact of behaving in a controlled and orderlymanner; selfcontrol, selfdiscipline. Cf. military discipline n. atMILITARY adj. and n. Special uses 2.

c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) cxviii.66 (MED), Teche me godenes, discipline, and tuninge [read cuninge; L. bonum sermonemet scientiam].

1509 J. FISHER Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Aii, Thecomparyson of them two may be made..In noblenes of persone, in dyscyplyne of theyr bodyes.

1551 T. WILSON Rule of Reason sig. Dviij , The polliticall lawe dothe cause an outwarde discipline

to be obserued euen of the wycked.

1611 M. SMITH in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 1 Seeking to reduce their Countreymen to goodorder and discipline.

1665 T. STANLEY tr. Ælian Various Hist. XII. lvi. 251 Diogenes the Sinopean said many things inthe reproof of the ignorance and want of discipline of the Megreans.

a1727 I. NEWTON Chronol. Anc. Kingdoms Amended (1728) iv. 312 He..reduced the irregular andundisciplined forces of the Medes into discipline and order.

1781 GIBBON Decline & Fall III. liii. 287 The discipline of a soldier is formed by exercise ratherthan by study.

1827 R. POLLOK Course of Time I. IV. 170 Soundheaded men, Of proper discipline, and excellentwind.

1896 Rep. Adjutant Gen. State of Mich. 6 Their discipline was more than good, and I have nohesitation in saying that in the performance of any of the duties they will compare favorablywith any National Guard.

1907 Times 26 Nov. 9/5 The want of moral discipline, selfrestraint, and right doing amongvarious classes in modern society.

1952 Indust. & Labor Relations Rev. 5 301/1 The necessarily broad sweeps of many of thepropositions considered in the book are generally drawn with admirable discipline and surefooted legal craftsmanship.

1960 Boys' Life Dec. 67/1 Like the athlete, he [sc. a painter] must..be forceful and precise—andhave great discipline.

2010 S. THIRSK Not quite White (2011) 230 This is a military operation. Don't laugh! Maintainyour discipline at all times.

12. The state of order maintained and observed among people undersome kind of control or command, as members of a religious house,schoolchildren, soldiers, prisoners, etc.; an orderly, regulated, orcontrolled condition.

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1610 G. MARTIN in Bible (Douay) II. III. vii. 384 Kepe children in discipline..instruct them, & bowethem from their childehood.

1640 F. QUARLES Enchyridion 22 It is most requisite for a Prince to prepare against..Warre, bothTheorically in reading Heroick Histories; and practically, in maintaining Martiall discipline.

1667 S. PEPYS Diary 1 Apr. (1974) VIII. 141 Sir W. Coventry is wholly resolved to bring him topunishment—‘for bear with this’, says he, ‘and no discipline shall ever be expected.’

a1715 BP. G. BURNET Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 170 They were men of severe tempers, and keptgood discipline.

1746 tr. C. P. Duclos Hist. Lewis XI I. 18 It was not only unjust, but impossible, to maintaindiscipline in the army, without making a due provision for their subsistence.

1836 F. MARRYAT Mr. Midshipman Easy I. xiii. 206 If I do not punish him, I allow a flagrant andopen violation of discipline to pass uncensured.

1848 J. C. HARE & A. W. HARE Guesses at Truth (ed. 2) 2nd Ser. 282 Discipline..should exercise itsinfluence without appearing to do so.

1889 Times 9 Mar. 16/1, I recently heard a learned limb of the law..confound prison punishmentwith prison discipline, forgetting that the former is merely a means of enforcing the latter.

1925 H. J. STENNING tr. O. Bauer Austrian Revol. xi. 168 Irresponsible strikes were averted, anddiscipline and order restored.

1964 Prison Rules in Statutory Instruments I. ccclxxxviii. 604 Where it appears desirable, for themaintenance of good order or discipline or in his own interests, that a prisoner should notassociate with other prisoners.

1997 Educ. Rev. Summer 82/2 Breakdowns in school discipline and the rising tide of everyoungerchildren being excluded from school are instant headline grabbers.

PHRASES

discipline of the secret n. Theol. (also with capital initials) thepractice, held to have been observed in the early Church, of concealingcertain theological doctrines and religious usages from theuninitiated, and revealing them only gradually to neophytes.Sometimes also secret discipline. Cf. sense 5b.

[After French †discipline du secret (1700 in the passage translated in quot. 1700), itself afterpostclassical Latin disciplina arcani (1683 in the title of a book by the Lutheran theologian W.E. Tentzel, 1685 in the title of a refutation of Tentzel's work by the Catholic theologian E.Schelstrate).]

1700 tr. M. Souverain Platonism Unveil'd viii. 25/2 Among Christians of the Discipline of the Secret[Fr. de la Discipline du Secret], and of the Platonick Trinity, it is very likely that they design'dto hide it under this Allegorical and Symbolical Name.

1794 J. JAMIESON Vindic. Doctr. Script. II. VI. ii. 347 Not till after the introduction of this secretdiscipline, which seems to have been about the beginning of the third century, did the fathers,as far as I can observe, form such distinctions.

1885 W. E. ADDIS & T. ARNOLD Catholic Dict. (ed. 3) 266 Discipline of the Secret..a convenient namefor the custom which prevailed in the early Church of concealing from heathen andcatechumens the more sacred and mysterious doctrines and rites of..religion.



1914 J. HASTINGS Encycl. Relig. VI. 235/1 To this purpose of circumventing the hostile rulers thesecret discipline of Gnosticism was mainly directed.

1966 D. NEWSOME Parting of Friends ii. 75 In the early Church, the principle of reserve wasdeveloped into a regular system, described as the Disciplina Arcani, the discipline of the secret,whereby the catechumens were gradually educated in the mysteries of the faith.

2012 M. HICKEY Get Real x. 44 The Discipline of the Secret also involved a cryptic language used byChristians to communicate with one another.

COMPOUNDS

C1. General attrib. and objective (with agent nouns), as disciplinecommittee, discipline forger, discipline problem, disciplinepolicy, etc.

1590 M. SUTCLIFFE Treat. Eccl. Discipline vii. §vi. 190 Which may serue to all platformers,deformers..church modellours, and discipline forgers for a full answere.

1606 W. BIRNIE Blame of Kirkburiall xviii. sig. Ev , So should Kirkpastors now ding it with the

discipline rod.

1823 Jackson's Oxf. Jrnl. 18 Oct. Handmills for grinding wheat are particularly recommended bythe Prison Discipline Committee, as best calculated to be used in prisons, &c. for punishmentby hard labour.

1897 Weekly Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado) 23 Sept. 2/7 Firmness, tact, patience andlove will usually solve the discipline problem and win the child's respect for the parent.

1917 Bull. Amer. Libr. Assoc. 11 182/2 If the librarian can gain a point of contact through the rightbook early in the year the discipline problem disappears.

1970 R. G. CORWIN Militant Professionalism v. 106 [Teachers] are not willing to compromise theirfinal authority to determine what the discipline policy is to be.

2012 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 6 Aug. A8 The Immigration Minister misused the LawSociety's discipline process to try to stifle freedom of speech.

C2.

discipline master n. a person employed to keep order and meteout punishment in a school or similar institution.

Now chiefly hist. in Britain and N. America but still current elsewhere, esp. in East Asia.

1863 Leeds Mercury 20 Apr. 4/2 One or two of the number pulled out short pipes and began tosmoke, in contravention of the rules; and on doing so they were remonstrated with by thediscipline master.

1895 Daily News 3 Apr. 8/3 Deceased was employed as discipline master..at..the PoliceOrphanage.

1914 Lloyd's Weekly News 16 Aug. 15/4 (advt.) , The London County Council invites applicationsfor the position of Instructor in Shoemaking and Discipline Master on ‘Supply’ at the HighburyIndustrial School.

2011 D. TSESHANG TANG Conditional Spaces iii. 78 Ah Lok was frequently being called into thediscipline master's room for lectures.

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