subtlety

WOTD - 16 April 2007    

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old French sutilté, from Latin subtīlitās, from subtīlis (“subtle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsʌtəlti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

subtlety (countable and uncountable; plural subtleties)

1. (uncountable) The quality or fact of being subtle.

   With all his usual subtlety, he quietly fixed the problem before anyone else noticed it.

2. (countable) An instance of being subtle, a subtle thing, especially a subtle argument or distinction.

   The subtleties of this overture are often overlooked.

3. (countable) An ornate medieval illusion dish or table decoration, especially when made from one thing but crafted to look like another.

   At the king's coronation feast, several subtleties were served between main courses.

Translations

quality or act of being subtle

French: subtilité (fr) German: Geschicklichkeit (de) f., Feinheit (de) f., Feinsinn (de) m., Feinsinnigkeit (de) f., Raffinesse (de) f., Raffiniertheit (de) f., Scharfsinn (de) m., Scharfsinnigkeit (de) f., Subtilität (de) f., Zartheit (de) f. Italian: sottigliezza (it) f. Japanese: 微妙 (ja) (びみょう, bimyō)

Polish: subtelność (pl) f., delikatność (pl) f. Russian: тонкость (ru) (tónkost’) f. Spanish: delicadeza (es) f., sutileza (es) f. Swedish: subtilitet (sv) Turkish: incelik (tr), kurnazlık (tr), zekilik (tr) (zekīlik), ustalık (tr), anlaşılmazlık (tr)

an instance of being subtle

Polish: subtelność (pl) f. Spanish: sutileza (es) f.

Swedish: finess (sv)

illusion food

French: entremets (fr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

• Novial: subtilaje (nov), subtileso (nov) (2)