subscription

American  

[suhb-skrip-shuhn] / səbˈskrɪp ʃən /

noun

• subscriptions
  plural

1. a sum of money given or pledged as a contribution, payment, investment, etc.

2. the right to receive a periodical for a sum paid, usually for an agreed number of issues.

3. an arrangement for presenting a series of concerts, plays, etc., that one may attend by the payment of a membership fee.

   to purchase a 10-concert subscription.

4. the right to receive a service or access text online for a certain period of time.

   a subscription to a media streaming service; a subscription to an online encyclopedia; a satellite-TV subscription.

5. Chiefly British. the dues paid by a member of a club, society, etc.

6. a fund raised through sums of money subscribed.

7. a sum subscribed.

8. the act of appending one's signature or mark, as to a document.

9. a signature or mark thus appended.

10. something written beneath or at the end of a document or the like.

11. a document to which a signature is attached.

12. assent, agreement, or approval expressed verbally or by signing one's name.

13. Ecclesiastical. assent to or acceptance of a body of principles or doctrines, the purpose of which is to establish uniformity.

14. Church of England. formal acceptance of the Thirty-nine Articles of 1563 and the Book of Common Prayer.

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subscription British  

/ səbˈskrɪpʃən /

noun

1. a payment or promise of payment for consecutive issues of a magazine, newspaper, book, etc, over a specified period of time

2. 1. the advance purchase of tickets for a series of concerts, operas, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a subscription concert

3. an amount of money paid or promised, as to a charity, or the fund raised in this way

4. an offer to buy shares or bonds issued by a company

5. the act of signing one's name to a document, etc

6. a signature or other appendage attached to the bottom of a document, etc

7. agreement, consent, or acceptance expressed by or as if by signing one's name

8. a signed document, statement, etc

9. the membership dues or fees paid to a society or club

10. acceptance of a fixed body of articles of faith, doctrines, or principles laid down as universally binding upon all the members of a Church

11. med that part of a written prescription directing the pharmacist how to mix and prepare the ingredients: rarely seen today as modern drugs are mostly prepackaged by the manufacturers

12. an advance order for a new product

13. 1. the sale of books, etc, prior to printing

    2. ( as modifier )

       a subscription edition

14. archaic allegiance; submission

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsubscription
  noun
• presubscription
  noun
• resubscription
  noun
• prosubscription
  adjective
• subscriptive
  adjective
• subscriptively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• subscriptions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of subscription

1400–50; late Middle English < Old French subscription < Latin subscrīptiōn- (stem of subscrīptiō ) “something written beneath, signature, subscription” equivalent to subscrīpt ( us ) ( see subscript) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

A subscription is an agreement conveyed with a signature. It's also buying a bunch of issues of a periodical, such as a year's subscription to "The New York Times" newspaper. See the word script in subscription? That's a clue that this word has to do with writing. Specifically, a subscription is the act of signing something that you agree to, like a petition. You can have a subscription to a belief too. Also, when you order a magazine or newspaper's future issues, you buy a subscription. Subscriptions like this usually last one year: you pay, and the magazine agrees to send you copies until your subscription runs out.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

subscription subscriptions

People are less interested in Netflix’s original content, and they are also suffering from streaming fatigue, as subscription prices have risen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

At a time when servers are being shut down, physical media is being digitized out of existence, and the subscription model is supplanting personal ownership, Ruth believes this is a way to have data autonomy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Many enterprises are already paying roughly $90 per user per month for a combination of M365 E5, a common M365 subscription plan, and Copilot, the company’s AI-powered assistant.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

People shared subscription guides, debated valuation metrics and encouraged friends and family to participate.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

In letters to Look’s editors, people wrote, I want to cancel my subscription to your magazine at once.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry

This contrasts with the approach taken by many US firms, which largely focus on proprietary models accessed through paid subscriptions or company platforms.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Beyond its successful use of AI in ads, the company is trying to generate returns on that investment with subscriptions for extra features on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

He bought subscriptions to Ancestry.com and another personal information database.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

The 5% of income left over would need to cover a lot, including student loan and other debt payments and nonessentials like subscriptions, clothing and gifts.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

But they also had subscriptions to the Philadelphia Orchestra and its Sunday chamber concert series, as well as season tickets to the Phillies.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Related Words

• contribution