Subtile - Definitions from Dictionary.com

4 results for: Subtile

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sub·tile

Audio Help [suht-l, suhb-til] Pronunciation Key

–adjective, -til·er, -til·est.

[Origin: 1325–75; ME < L subtīlis fine (orig. of fabric), equiv. to sub- sub- + -tīlis, akin to téla cloth on a loom, loom (< *tekslā, deriv. of texere to weave; see text)

]

—Related forms

sub·tile·ly, adverb

sub·tile·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Subtile

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sub·tile Audio Help (sŭt'l, sŭb'təl) Pronunciation Key
adj. Subtle.

[Middle English, from Old French subtil, from Latin subtīlis, fine, delicate; see subtle.]

sub'tile·ly adv., sub·til'i·ty (səb-tĭl'ĭ-tē), sub'tile·ness (sŭt'l-nĭs, sŭb'təl-), sub'til·ty (sŭt'l-tē, sŭb'təl-) n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
subtile

c.1374, "clever, dexterous," from O.Fr. subtil (14c.), from L. subtilis "fine, thin, delicate" (see subtle). A Latinized refashioning of the O.Fr. source of subtle.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Subtile

A*cute"\, a. [L. acutus, p. p. of acuere to sharpen, fr. a root ak to be sharp. Cf. Ague, Cute, Edge.]

1. Sharp at the end; ending in a sharp point; pointed; -- opposed to blunt or obtuse; as, an acute angle; an acute leaf.

2. Having nice discernment; perceiving or using minute distinctions; penetrating; clever; shrewd; -- opposed to dull or stupid; as, an acute observer; acute remarks, or reasoning.

3. Having nice or quick sensibility; susceptible to slight impressions; acting keenly on the senses; sharp; keen; intense; as, a man of acute eyesight, hearing, or feeling; acute pain or pleasure.

4. High, or shrill, in respect to some other sound; -- opposed to grave or low; as, an acute tone or accent.

5. (Med.) Attended with symptoms of some degree of severity, and coming speedily to a crisis; -- opposed to chronic; as, an acute disease.

Acute angle (Geom.), an angle less than a right angle.

Syn: Subtile; ingenious; sharp; keen; penetrating; sagacious; sharp-witted; shrewd; discerning; discriminating. See Subtile.

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