subtile

English

Etymology

From Latin subtilis (“fine, thin, slender, delicate”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌt.əl/, /ˈsʌb.tɪl/, /ˈsʌb.təl/

Adjective

subtile (comparative subtiler, superlative subtilest)

1. Archaic spelling of subtle.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Wisdom of Solomon 7:22–23:

     For wisedome which is the worker of all things, taught mee: for in her is an vnderstanding spirit holy, one onely, manifold, subtile, liuely, cleare, vndefiled, plaine, not subiect to hurt, louing the thing that is good, quicke, which cānot be letted, ready to do good: Kinde to man, stedfast, sure, free from care, hauing all power, ouerseeing all things, and going through all vnderstanding, pure, and most subtile spirits.

   • 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

• subtile body

Further reading

• “subtile”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “subtile”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /syp.til/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adjective

subtile

1. feminine singular of subtil

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

subtile

1. inflection of subtil:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Latin

Adjective

subtīle

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of subtīlis

References

• "subtile", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Middle English

Adjective

subtile

1. alternative form of sotil

Noun

subtile

1. alternative form of sotil

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

subtile

1. definite singular/plural of subtil

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

subtile

1. definite singular/plural of subtil

Swedish

Adjective

subtile

1. definite natural masculine singular of subtil