Ma'anar ƙamus na "subjection" shine yanayin kasancewa ƙarƙashin iko ko ikon wani, ko aikin sanya wani ko wani abu ƙarƙashin iko ko mallake shi. Hakanan yana iya komawa ga yanayin kasancewa ƙarƙashin wani abu, kamar doka ko ƙa'ida, ko tsarin ƙaddamarwa ko kuma fuskantar wani takamaiman ƙwarewa, yanayi, ko magani. Bugu da ƙari, "batun" na iya nufin aikin gabatar da wani abu don la'akari, kamar shawara ko hujja.