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sublime - 9 dictionary results

sub⋅lime

  [suh-blahym] adjective, noun, verb, -limed, -lim⋅ing.
Use sublime in a Sentence
–adjective
1. elevated or lofty in thought, language, etc.: Paradise Lost is sublime poetry.
2. impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power; inspiring awe, veneration, etc.: Switzerland has sublime scenery.
3. supreme or outstanding: a sublime dinner.
4. complete; absolute; utter: sublime stupidity.
5. Archaic.
a. of lofty bearing.
b. haughty.
6. Archaic. raised high; high up.
–noun
7. the sublime,
a. the realm of things that are sublime: the sublime in art.
b. the quality of sublimity.
c. the greatest or supreme degree.
–verb (used with object)
8. to make higher, nobler, or purer.
9. Chemistry.
a. to convert (a solid substance) by heat into a vapor, which on cooling condenses again to solid form, without apparent liquefaction.
b. to cause to be given off by this or some analogous process.
–verb (used without object)
10. Chemistry. to volatilize from the solid state to a gas, and then condense again as a solid without passing through the liquid state.
Origin:
1350–1400; (n. and adj.) < L sublīmis high, equiv. to sub- sub- + an element of uncert. orig., variously identified with līmis, līmus oblique or līmen lintel, threshold; (v.) ME sublimen < OF sublimer < L sublimāre to raise, deriv. of sublimis

Related forms:
sub⋅lime⋅ly, adverb
sub⋅lime⋅ness, noun
sub⋅lim⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. exalted, noble. 2. magnificent, superb, august, grand, gorgeous, resplendent, imposing, majestic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sublime
sub·lime   (sə-blīm')   
adj.  
  1. Characterized by nobility; majestic.
    1. Of high spiritual, moral, or intellectual worth.
    2. Not to be excelled; supreme.
  3. Inspiring awe; impressive.
  4. Archaic Raised aloft; set high.
  5. Obsolete Of lofty appearance or bearing; haughty: "not terrible,/That I should fear . . . /But solemn and sublime" (John Milton).
n.  
  1. Something sublime.
  2. An ultimate example.
v.   sub·limed, sub·lim·ing, sub·limes

v.   tr.
  1. To render sublime.
  2. Chemistry To cause to sublimate.
v.   intr. Chemistry
To sublimate.

[French, from Old French, sublimated, from Latin sublīmis, uplifted.]
sub·lime'ly adv., sub·lime'ness, sub·lim'i·ty (sə-blĭm'ĭ-tē) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sublime

Sub*lime"\, a. [Compar. Sublimer; superl. Sublimest.] [L. sublimis; sub under + (perhaps) a word akin to limen lintel, sill, thus meaning, up to the lintel: cf. F. sublime. Cf. Eliminate.]

1. Lifted up; high in place; exalted aloft; uplifted; lofty.

Sublime on these a tower of steel is reared. --Dryden.

2. Distinguished by lofty or noble traits; eminent; -- said of persons. "The sublime Julian leader." --De Quincey.

3. Awakening or expressing the emotion of awe, adoration, veneration, heroic resolve, etc.; dignified; grand; solemn; stately; -- said of an impressive object in nature, of an action, of a discourse, of a work of art, of a spectacle, etc.; as, sublime scenery; a sublime deed.

Easy in words thy style, in sense sublime. --Prior.

Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong. --Longfellow.

4. Elevated by joy; elate. [Poetic]

Their hearts were jocund and sublime, Drunk with idolatry, drunk with wine. --Milton.

5. Lofty of mien; haughty; proud. [Poetic] "Countenance sublime and insolent." --Spenser.

His fair, large front and eye sublime declared Absolute rule. --Milton.

Syn: Exalted; lofty; noble; majestic. See Grand.

Sublime

Sub*lime"\, n. That which is sublime; -- with the definite article; as: (a) A grand or lofty style in speaking or writing; a style that expresses lofty conceptions.

The sublime rises from the nobleness of thoughts, the magnificence of words, or the harmonious and lively turn of the phrase. --Addison. (b) That which is grand in nature or art, as distinguished from the merely beautiful.

Sublime

Sub*lime"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sublimed; p. pr. & vb. n. Subliming.] [Cf. L. sublimare, F. sublimer to subject to sublimation. See Sublime, a., and cf. Sublimate, v. t.]

1. To raise on high. [Archaic]

A soul sublimed by an idea above the region of vanity and conceit. --E. P. Whipple.

2. (Chem.) To subject to the process of sublimation; to heat, volatilize, and condense in crystals or powder; to distill off, and condense in solid form; hence, also, to purify.

3. To exalt; to heighten; to improve; to purify.

The sun . . . Which not alone the southern wit sublimes, But ripens spirits in cold, northern climes. --Pope.

4. To dignify; to ennoble.

An ordinary gift can not sublime a person to a supernatural employment. --Jer. Taylor.

Sublime

Sub*lime"\, v. i. (Chem.) To pass off in vapor, with immediate condensation; specifically, to evaporate or volatilize from the solid state without apparent melting; -- said of those substances, like arsenic, benzoic acid, etc., which do not exhibit a liquid form on heating, except under increased pressure.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sublime
Spanish: sublime,
German: erhaben,
Japanese: 荘厳な
More Translations »

sublime 
1586, "expressing lofty ideas in an elevated manner," from M.Fr. sublime, from L. sublimis "uplifted, high, lofty," possibly originally "sloping up to the lintel," from sub "up to" + limen "lintel." The sublime "the sublime part of anything" is from 1679. Sublime Porte, former title of the Ottoman government, is from Fr. la Sublime Porte, lit. "the high gate," a loan-translation of Arabic Bab 'Ali, title of the Ottoman court at Constantinople (cf. mikado).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: sub·lime
Pronunciation: s&-'blIm
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: sub·limed; sub·lim·ing
transitivesenses
: to cause to pass from the solid to the vapor state by heating and to condense back to solid form sublime intransitive senses
: to pass directly fromthe solid to the vapor state
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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sublime

in literary criticism, grandeur of thought, emotion, and spirit that characterizes great literature. It is the topic of an incomplete treatise, On the Sublime, that was for long attributed to the 3rd-century Greek philosopher Cassius Longinus but now believed to have been written in the 1st century AD by an unknown writer frequently designated Pseudo-Longinus.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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