Disciplined

How to spell disciplined

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce disciplined

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does disciplined mean?

1. adjectiveShowing controlled, orderly behaviour through consistent self-control or training.
2. verbTrained or corrected someone, typically by enforcing rules or imposing a penalty.

Disciplined in a sentence

• adjective

  A disciplined approach to saving helped them clear the mortgage early.

• verb

  The manager disciplined two staff members for ignoring safety rules.

• adjective

  The team stayed calm and disciplined even when the deadline slipped.

• verb

  The school disciplined the pupils who skipped the exam.

Where does disciplined come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin disciplina, meaning 'instruction', 'training', or 'a branch of knowledge', which was built on discipulus, a 'pupil' or 'learner', itself related to discere, 'to learn'. The noun discipline entered English through Old French in the 1200s, originally tied to religious instruction and the bodily mortification by which monks trained themselves, which is why it long carried the twin senses of 'teaching' and 'punishment'. From the noun came the verb to discipline, 'to train or to correct', and from that the form disciplined, describing a person who has learned controlled, orderly behaviour. The same Latin root sits inside 'disciple', the learner who follows a teacher, a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the 'sc' and the 'i' before the 'p'. The trap for writers is the quiet 'sc' cluster and the unstressed 'i' in the middle, both inherited directly from discipulus.

How the word is built

• discipul- (from Latin discipulus: pupil, learner)
• -ine
• -ed (adjective/past-tense suffix)