Disciplinario

Disciplinario is an adjective in Spanish meaning related to discipline or to disciplinary actions. It is used to describe rules, measures, bodies, or procedures that enforce conduct and address rule violations. The term appears in common legal, educational, military, corporate, and sports contexts through phrases such as proceso disciplinario, código disciplinario, and sanciones disciplinarias.

Origins lie in the Latin disciplina, with the suffix -ario forming adjectives indicating relation or belonging. In addition to Spanish, cognates with similar meaning exist in other Romance languages, such as disciplinário in Portuguese.

In practice, disciplinario is used to refer to the procedures and institutions that administer discipline: a procedimiento disciplinario may lead to sanctions like amonestación, suspensión, or expulsión; a tribunal disciplinario decides penalties in sports or the armed forces; a código disciplinario sets norms for behavior in schools or workplaces.

Disciplinario is usually an adjective; when used as a noun, it appears in fixed expressions or in regional usage to denote the matter of discipline rather than a particular person. Related terms include disciplina (discipline) and disciplinar (to discipline).