subtile
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin subtilis (“fine, thin, slender, delicate”).
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
subtile (comparative subtiler, superlative subtilest)
- Obsolete form of subtle.
- 1819, Francis Bacon, The Works of Francis Bacon, volume 2, page 2:
- And sometimes this perception, in some kind of bodies, is far more subtile than the sense; so that the sense is but a dull thing in comparison of it: we see a weather-glass will find the least difference of the weather, in heat, or cold, when men find it not.
- 1888, Henry James, chapter 2, in The Solution:
- I burst into mirth at this—I liked him even better when he was subtile than when he was simple.
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “subtile”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “subtile”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
subtile
German edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Adjective edit
subtile
- inflection of subtil:
Latin edit
Adjective edit
subtīle
References edit
- subtile in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Middle English edit
Adjective edit
subtile
- Alternative form of sotil
Noun edit
subtile
- Alternative form of sotil
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Adjective edit
subtile
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Adjective edit
subtile
Swedish edit
Adjective edit
subtile