Contextualizebeta

subtle

adj
/ˈsʌtl̩/UK/ˈsʌtəl/US

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil (“of a person, the mind, etc.: clever, ingenious, penetrating; cunning, sly; insidious; delicate, fine; not dense, light, thin; finely powdered; narrow, slender; etc.”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman sotel, subtil, sutil, Middle French soutil, subtil, sutil, and Old French sotil, soutil, subtil, sutil (“of an object: skilfully designed or made; delicate, fine; slender, thin; of an intangible thing: difficult to understand; of a person: discerning, shrewd; devious, sly; etc.”) (modern French subtil), from Latin subtīlis (“of texture: delicate, fine; slender, thin; accurate, keen; having fine judgment; etc.”), from sub (“below, under”) + tēla (“warp (threads running lengthwise in a loom); web”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tetḱ- (“to create, produce; to cut, hew”), from *teḱ- (“to beget, sire”)). The word displaced Old English smēag (literally “creeping”). The modern and Middle English (and French) spellings with -b- are influenced by Latin subtīlis; the letter was probably never pronounced. The noun is derived from Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil (“wise person; sophisticated people collectively”), from the adjective.

  1. derived from subtīlis
  2. derived from subtīliāre
  3. derived from sotil
  4. derived from soutillier — “to make thin; to sharpen; to split hairs when arguing; to scheme, plot”
  5. derived from soutiller
  6. derived from sotiller
  7. inherited from sotilen

Definitions

  1. Senses relating to tangible things.

    • The mighty Magnet from the Center darts / This ſtrong, tho' ſubtile Force, thro' all the Parts: / Its active Rays ejaculated thence, / Irradiate all the wide Circumference.

  2. Senses relating to intangible things.

  3. People or things that are subtle (adjective sense) as a class.

  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. To make (something) subtle (“giving only a slight impression

      To make (something) subtle (“giving only a slight impression; also, skilfully restrained or understated”).

    2. To burn (someone or something) to ash.

      • A fire ſubtle ye, are ye ſo crafty.

The neighborhood

Derived

nonsubtle, oversubtle, oversubtlety, subtely, subtile, subtilise, subtilize, subtilist, subtlist, subtle body, subtle jack, subtlely, subtleness, subtleship, subtlety, subtly, supersubtle, supersubtlety, suprasubtle, suprasubtlety, suttle, ultrasubtle, unsubtle, unsubtleness, unsubtlety, unsubtly, outsubtle, subtling

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at subtle. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01subtle02intangible03stocks04stock05raw06unprocessed07processed08refinement

A definitional loop anchored at subtle. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at subtle

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA