Let be a category. Then is said to be a subcategory of , if the objects of are also objects of , if the morphisms of are also morphisms of , and if is a category in its own right. In particular, for each object of , the identity morphism from should also be in , and compositions of morphisms in should also be in .
The functor denoted by , the so-called inclusion functor which sends objects identically to objects, and morphisms identically to morphisms, is always a faithful functor.