subject matter, content, message, substance - what a communication that is about something is about

bone of contention - the subject of a dispute; "the real bone of contention, as you know, is money"

precedent - a subject mentioned earlier (preceding in time)

question, head - the subject matter at issue; "the question of disease merits serious discussion"; "under the head of minor Roman poets"

keynote - the principal theme in a speech or literary work

idea, thought - the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; "it was not a good idea"; "the thought never entered my mind"

topos - a traditional theme or motif or literary convention; "James Joyce uses the topos of the Wandering Jew in his Ulysses"

music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner

melodic line, melodic phrase, melody, tune, strain, air, line - a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; "she was humming an air from Beethoven"

motif, motive - a theme that is elaborated on in a piece of music

statement - (music) the presentation of a musical theme; "the initial statement of the sonata"

variation - a repetition of a musical theme in which it is modified or embellished

writing assignment, written assignment - an assignment to write something

essay - an analytic or interpretive literary composition

term paper - a composition intended to indicate a student's progress during a school term

incidental music - music composed to accompany the action of a drama or to fill intervals between scenes

linguistics - the scientific study of language

descriptor, form, signifier, word form - the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something; "the inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached"

furnish, provide, supply, render - provide or furnish with; "We provided the room with an electrical heater"