| 释义 |
subtility|səbˈtɪlɪtɪ|
Forms: α. 4 soutilete, sutilite, suttellite, 5 sotyllyte, sutillyte. β. 4 soubtilite, subtilitee, 4–6 -tylyte, -tilite, 5 -tylytee, 6 -tel(l)itie, -tillite, -ie, -tellyte, 6–7 -tilitie, 6– subtility.
[a. OF. (1) soutilite, sutelite, (2) subtilite, = Pr. subtilitat, It. sottilità, Sp. sutilidad, Pg. subtilidade, ad. L. subtīlitas, -ātem, f. subtīlis subtle a. Cf. subtilty, subtlety.
Now used as the noun of quality of subtile chiefly in the physical senses.]
1. Acuteness, perspicacity; = subtlety 1.
1388Wyclif Ecclus. i. 6 To whom was the roote of wisdom schewid? and who knewe the sutilites therof? a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 18, I knew the subtillitie sa weill that he hes ane merwellous foirsicht of all kynd of suspitioun. 1632Lithgow Trav. ii. 62 Vlysses..excelled all other Greekes in..subtility of wit. 1866Alger Solit. Nat. iv. 187 Masters whose comprehensiveness and subtility of thinking have scarcely been surpassed.
†2. Skill, cleverness, ingenuity; = subtlety 2.
αc1375Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 751 Þai..throw thar suttellite In his wame gert it fosterit be. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 5473 For hyr gret sotyllyte, Thys lady..Prayede hyr..For to helpe make thys bred.
β1375Barbour Bruce xx. 305 The gud lord of Dowglass syne Gert mak ane cass of siluir fyne, Anamalyt throu subtilite. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. T. 818 (Lansd. MS.) And men knewe al my subtilite Be god men wolde haue so grete envie To me..I scholde be dede. 1470–85Malory Arthur ii. xix. 99 Merlyn lete make by his subtylyte that Balyns swerd was put in a marbel stone. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 333/2 He had subtylytee for teschewe the lyggynge in a wayte of his enemyes. 1484― Fables of Auian v, I..canne gyue remedy to al manere of sekenes by myn arte and subtylyte. 1662J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 34 It hath the subtility to swallow down Muscles, and keep them in the stomack, till the heat thereof hath opened the shell. 1669Gale Crt. Gentiles i. Introd. 4 It is the part of a Student, to require subtilitie or exactnesse in every kind.
†3. Cunning, craftiness; = subtlety 3. Obs.
1375Barbour Bruce x. 38 The king, that in all assays Wes fundyn wiss and awerte, Persauit thair subtilite. 1390Gower Conf. I. 239 With sleihte and with soubtilite. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 99 Defend me from the fals subtellitie Of wickit men. 1567Satir. Poems Reform. iv. 116 And mylde meiknes sylit with subtilitie. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 228 To signifie how irreligious pastors in holy habittes beguile the simple with subtility. 1611Bible 2 Kings x. 19 Iehu did it in subtilitie..that hee might destroy the worshippers of Baal. a1761Law Comf. Weary Pilgr. (1809) 59 An earthly animal that only excelled..the beasts, in an upright form and serpentine subtility.
†4. An instance of this; a cunning or crafty scheme, an artifice, dodge; = subtlety 4. Obs.
α1390Gower Conf. II. 199 Nou herkne the soutilete.
βc1386Chaucer Merch. T. 3 (Harl. MS.) Lo swiche sleighthes and subtilites In wommen. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop, Life 2 b, I shalle fynde a subtylyte that we shall haue no blame ne harme therfore. 1673Lady's Call. i. 28 It needs none of those subtilities and simulations, those pretences and artifices.
5. (Excessive) nicety or refinement in argument, etc.
c1384Chaucer H. Fame 855 Haue y not preved thus symply With-outen any subtilite Of speche or grete prolixite? c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxviii. 75 Amonges the Romayns at that tyme was had greete subtylite in philosophye. 1534Whitinton Tullyes Offices ii. M, The substylyte [sic] and quiddyte is a nother maner of thynge, whan truthe it selfe is fyled or subtylly handled in disputacyon. 1605Bacon Adv. Learning i. 20 This same vnprofitable subtilitie or curiositie is of two sorts.
6. An instance of this; esp. pl. = subtlety 7.
1589Puttenham Engl. Poesie ii. xi. [xii.] (Arb.) 104, I being very inquisitiue to know of the subtillities of those countreyes, and especially in matter of learning. c1643Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 42 Their tutors commonly spend much time in teaching them the subtilities of Logic. 1764Mem. Geo. Psalmanazar 41 Controversies clogged..with sophistry and endless subtilities. 1845Lingard Anglo-Saxon Ch. II. 178 note, The subtilities of philosophers.
7. Tenuity, fineness; = subtlety 8.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 43 Þe medicyn þanne muste be hoot & drie with subtiliate [read subtilite] as terebentine to moiste bodies. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 229 The fourth dowry [sc. of the body] is subtilite. 1552Lyndesay Monarche 6169 Subtellyte thay [sc. the blessed] sall haue maruellouslye. 1652Benlowes Theoph. vi. lxxv, They..far surpasse the sun-beams in subtilitie. 1707Curios. Husb. & Gard. 69 There is no part..in which the Subtility and Suppleness of the Sap more claim our Admiration, than in Trees that are grafted. 1801Phil. Trans. XCII. 46 The utmost imaginable subtility of the corpuscles of light.
8. Delicacy, intricacy; = subtlety 9.
1601Holland Pliny xxii. xxiv. II. 136 There is a reason rendred, full of infinit subtilitie,..Why the same things seem not alwaies bitter or sweet alike in every mans tast. 1855Bain Senses & Int. iii. i. §15 (1864) 352 An operation of great subtility. |