| 释义 |
▪ I. subtle, a.|ˈsʌt(ə)l|
Forms: α. 3–7 sotill, 4–5 -el, il(le, -yl(e, 4–6 -ell, 5–6 -yll, (4 -ele, -ile, -ylle, soutil, -yle, 5 sotule, 6 sot(t)le); 4–5 sutell, -il, 4–6 -el, 5–6 suttell, -ill, 5–7 suttle, 6–7 sutle (4 sutile, -ill, 5 -elle, -ille, suttyle, Sc. sutaille, suttale, sittell, 6 sut(t)yll). β. 6– subtle.
[a. OF. soutil, sotil, sutil (12th c.), mod.F. subtil (see subtile) = Pr. sotil, It. sottile, Sp. sutil, Pg. subtil:—L. subtīlem, nom. -īlis, for *subtēlis:—*subtexlis app. finely woven, f. sub under + *texlā, tēla woven stuff, web (cf. texture).
In the 1st Folio of Shakespeare the instances are about equally divided between the spellings subtle and subtil(e, -ill. In the first editions of Milton's poems the spelling suttle (with suttlety, suttly) is the only one, except in Paradise Regained, which has subtle (with subtilty).]
1. Of thin consistency, tenuous; not dense, rarefied; hence, penetrating, pervasive or elusive by reason of tenuity (now chiefly of odours).
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 1050 Þurȝ woȝe & won my lokyng ȝede, For sotyle cler moȝt lette no lyȝt. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 9 Abouen on þir hilles es þe aer so clere and so sutill þat men may fele na wynd þare. 1422Yonge tr. Secr. Secr. lxiv. 240 Sutil and thyn spetil that descendyth..fro the Palete of the mouth to the tonge. a1566R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) C ij b, But mee thinkes, this is a pleasant Citie, The Seate is good,..The Ayre subtle and fine. 1660Boyle New Exp. Phys.-Mech. ix. 74 The most subtle Chymical Spirits. 1665Dryden Ind. Emp. ii. i, Arise ye subtle Spirits, that can spy. 1799Med. Jrnl. I. 250 There was only one part of the air, namely, the most subtle and elastic, that could be called vital. 1842Browning In a Gondola 33 The Arab sage In practising with gems can loose Their subtle spirit in his cruce And leave but ashes. 1863Tyndall Heat ii. 23 The material theory supposes heat to be..a subtle fluid stored up in the inter-atomic spaces of bodies. 1891Farrar Darkness & Dawn xix, A sweet and subtle odour seemed to wrap her round in its seductive atmosphere.
2. Of fine or delicate texture or composition. Obs. exc. arch.
1382Wyclif Isa. xix. 9 Plattende and weuende sotile thingus. a1662Heylin Laud ii. (1668) 331 Many a fine and subtle Carpet. 1705Atterbury Serm. Luke xvi. 31 (1726) II. ii. 65 Their fine and subtle Texture [sc. of the works of nature]. 1790Cowper Odyss. xix. 173 A robe Of amplest measure and of subtlest woof. 1827Keble Chr. Y., Sun. bef. Adv. x, Thinner than the subtlest lawn.
†b. Of food: Delicate, light. Obs.
a1400–50Wars Alex. 2923 Þare sesonde was a soper þe sotelest vndire heuen. 1422Yonge tr. Secr. Secr. lxii. 239 Sotyll diet is beste. c1450J. Capgrave Life St. Aug. 47 Grete wast was not in his hous of sotil metes.
†3. Of small thickness or breadth; thin, slender, fine. Obs.
1382Wyclif Lev. xiii. 30 The heer ȝalow, and sotiler than it is wont. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1172 The sharpe swerd ouer his heed Hangynge by a soutil twynes threed. c1407Lydg. Reason & Sens. 1150 Hir clothing..Wroght and wove..With sotil thredes softe and smale. 1460–70Bk. Quinte Essence 9 If ȝe wole not make lymayl of gold, þanne make þerof a sotil þinne plate. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. ii. 151 No Orifex for a point as subtle, As Ariachnes broken woofe to enter. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 129 Tools of sharp and subtle Edges.
†b. Of a ship: = subtile 3 b. Obs.
1511Guylforde's Pilgr. (Camden) 7 An C Galyes, grete bastardes and sotell.
†4. Finely powdered; (of particles) fine, minute.
1394in Heath Grocers' Comp. (1869) 60 [The unjust mode of garbling spices and other] sotill wares. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 16818 The Sotyl smale Sandys and gravell off the See. c1460J. Russell Bk. Nurture 57 Loke þy salte be sutille, whyte, fayre and drye. 1460–70Bk. Quinte Essence 4 Selid with þe seel of lute of wijsdom, maad of þe sotillest flour. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sublimable, Giving wings, as it were, to its subtle particles, so that they may ascend with its easily sublimable matter.
5. Of immaterial things: Not easily grasped, understood, or perceived; † intricate, abstruse.
(Now merged in sense 6.)
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1794 Þe dede es swa sutil and pryve, Þat na man may it properly se. c1350Will. Palerne 2603 Sechande towarde cisile þe sotilest weyes. 1357Lay Folks' Catech. (L.) 244 We schul wele wyte þat þese thre thyngys ben wel sotel and diuers. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 48 Alle þe sciences vnder sonne and alle þe sotyle craftes I wolde I knewe. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 69 Curious and sotil artes and sciens. 1616B. Jonson Devil an Ass ii. i. 114 There's not place, To gi' you demonstration of these things. They are a little to subtle. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 192 Things remote From use, obscure and suttle. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) II. 167 The subtler Words and Notions are, the nearer they are to Nonsense.
6. Fine or delicate, esp. to such an extent as to elude observation or analysis.
1639W. Cartwright Royal Slave ii. i, Kings' pleasures are more subtle than to be Seen by the vulgar. a1648Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 449, I told her it should be no pain, it was so sotell (for so is his word). 1805Wordsw. Prelude i. 549 How other pleasures have been mine, and joys of subtler origin. 1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps v. §9. 144 The seven are in a most subtle alternating proportion. 1855Bain Senses & Int. ii. iii. §20. 569 Many inconsistencies are too subtle for the detection of an ordinary mind. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) II. vi. 7 The influence of the popes in England was of that subtle kind which was not so readily defeated. 1879Good Words Dec. 831/1 What subtle associations will recall the phantoms of the past.
7. Of craftsmen, etc.: Skilful, clever, expert, dexterous. (Const. of.) arch.
a1300Cursor M. 325 First in his witte he all purueid His werc, als dos þe sotill wright. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 688 Of song sotil and wys. 13..Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xlix. 339 Þe more sotil he is of þat art. c1450Merlin 362 [He] made..a Chekier of golde and Ivory half parted, ffor he was right sotill of soche crafte. 1821Byron Two Foscari iv. i, I..bribed no subtle master Of the destructive art. 1859FitzGerald Omar xliii, The subtle Alchemist that [can] in a Trice Life's leaden Metal into Gold transmute.
b. transf.
c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1191 With soutil pencel was depeynted this storie. 1422Yonge tr. Secr. Secr. lviii. 220 He is of sotille ymagynacion as of hand-werkys. 1703Prior Advice to Painter 22 Wks. 1907 II. 290 All Nature's Gifts refin'd by subtlest Art. 1867Ruskin Time & Tide ii. §7 To attain..more subtle and exemplary skill in his own craft. 1880Smiles Duty iii. 50 The Indians are clever workmen, with ingenious, subtle fingers.
c. Of animals. rare.
† subtle jack: ? the weaver-bird.
1605Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 96 The valued file Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle. 1699W. Dampier Voy. II. ii. 68 Subtle Jacks are Birds as big as Pigeons... They are called by the English Subtle Jacks, because of this uncommon way of building. 1854Poultry Chron. I. 419 The..most subtle, cunning, sharpest-flying Pigeon for Homeing.
†8. Of things: Characterized by cleverness or ingenuity in conception or execution; cleverly designed or executed, artfully contrived. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 4750 In sum bok find i þar a wile þat ioseph fand þat was sutile. 1375Barbour Bruce xix. 32 Sa sutell purchass can he ma, That he gert tak thame euirilkane. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xi. 207 For god seith hit hymself ‘shal neuere good appel Þorw no sotel science on sour stock growe’. 1473J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 26 He..with a sotule poynte of werre, gate and enteryd Seynt Michaels Mount. 1667Milton P.L. i. 727 From the arched roof Pendant by suttle Magic many a row Of Starry Lamps.
9. Of persons, their faculties, actions: Characterized by penetration, acumen, or discrimination. Now with implication of (excessive) refinement or nicety of thought, speculation, or argument.
α13..Cursor M. 13443 (Gött.) Of godspellers he was þe ferth. Marc, luca, mathe, his felaus, Bot iohn was sotilest in saus. 1340Ayenb. 24 Sotil wyt wel uor to vynde. c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 183 Sondry scoles maken sotile clerkis. a1400Morte Arth. 808 Two phylozophirs..In the seuyne scyence the suteleste fondene. c1440Gesta Rom. xvi. 55 (Add. MS.), The second best counseilour, and the thirde the sotelest enserchour. 1502W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione i. v. (1893) 157 The fame of sotell phylosophers. 1579G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 71 Y⊇ suttle and intricate acumen of Aristotle. c1597in Harington's Nugæ Ant. (1804) I. 188 The narrowest examiners and suttellest distinguyshers of wordes. 1644Milton Areop. (Arb.) 68 A Nation not slow and dull, but..acute to invent, suttle and sinewy to discours.
β1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxvii. 176 Not for the exercising of our curious & subtle wits. 1769Robertson Chas. V, vii. III. 62 The subtle dexterity of a scholastic metaphysician. 1807Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 115 The young how brave, how subtle were the old. 1814Byron Ode to Napoleon viii, A subtle disputant on creeds. 1840Macaulay Ess., Ranke's Hist. (1897) 549 Subtle speculations touching the Divine attributes. 1842H. Rogers Introd. Burke's Wks. I. 40 A close and subtle analysis of the mental phenomena. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxvi, The laws of sympathy between beards and birds..are questions for the subtle reasoning of scientific bodies. 1872Freeman Gen. Sk. Eur. Hist. v. 97 As the Greeks had in old times produced so many subtle philosophers, so they now produced equally subtle divines.
†10. Of persons or animals: Crafty, cunning; treacherously or wickedly cunning, insidiously sly, wily. Obs.
α1357Lay Folks' Catech. (L.) 1220 Þey be mysdoers, sotel, and slyhtful dysseyuers. 1446Lydg. Night. Poems i. 136 Whom that the sotell serpent can deceyue. c1470Henry Wallace i. 273 Suthroun ar full sutaille euirilk man. 1535Coverdale Gen. iii. 1 The serpent was sotyller then all the beastes of the felde. 1559Mirr. Mag. (1563) D j, The Wolfe doth spoyle, the suttle Fox doth pyke. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. iii. xvi. 94/1 He that is suttlelest and fullest of shiftes. 1631Milton Sonn. vii. 1 How soon hath Time the suttle theef of youth, Stoln on his wing my three and twentith yeer! 1667― P.L. vii. 495 The Serpent suttl'st Beast of all the field.
β1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 191 A subtle Traitor needs no Sophister. 1598― Merry W. iii. i. 103 Am I subtle? Am I a Machiuell? 1671Milton P.R. i. 465 The subtle Fiend..Dissembl'd, and this answer smooth return'd. 1709E. W. Donna Rosina 67 I'll tell you what I would do, said this Subtle Baggage. 1781Cowper Conversat. 809 The subtle and injurious may be just, And he grown chaste that was the slave of lust.
†b. Of actions, thoughts, etc. Obs.
αc1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 278 Þe sotil amortasynge of seculer lordischipis þat is don bi menene hondis in fraude of þe kyngis statute. 1382― 2 Cor. xi. 3 The serpent disceyuede Eue with his sutil wordis. 1429Rolls of Parlt. IV. 349/1 Grete damagis and sotil deceitis. c1470Henry Wallace i. 84 Be suttale band thai cordyt of this thing. c1510More Picus Wks. 23 Against euery sottle suggestion of vice. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 55 The sotle inticement of som lewd seruant. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 184 His head.., well stor'd with suttle wiles.
β1607Shakes. Timon iv. iii. 515 Is not thy kindnesse subtle, couetous? 1671Milton P.R. iv. 308 All his tedious talk is but vain boast, Or subtle shifts conviction to evade.
†c. Of ground: Tricky. Obs.
1607Shakes. Cor. v. ii. 20 Like to a Bowle vpon a subtle ground I haue tumbled past the throw. 1630B. Jonson Chloridia B, Vpon Tityus his brest, that (for sixe of the nine acres) is counted the subtlest bowling-ground in all Tartary.
11. Working imperceptibly or secretly, insidious.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 316, I feele this youths perfections With an inuisible, and subtle stealth To creepe in at mine eyes. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. xliii. IV. 331 The winds might diffuse that subtle venom. 1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxxxvi, From the loud roar of foaming calumny To the small whisper of the as paltry few, And subtler venom of the reptile crew. 1878Masque Poets 25 What subtle drug shall give release with slightest pain before it slay.
†12. Of weight: = subtile 12 a; now suttle. Obs.
1622Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 22 The Custome of Antuerp is to weigh by the hundreth pounds euen weight called Subtle, for the which commonly there is allowed at the weigh-house 101 lb. 1636in Foster Crt. Min. E. Ind. Comp. (1907) 203, 500. wt. subtle of pepper.
13. Comb. chiefly parasynthetic adjs., as subtle-brained, subtle-cadenced, subtle-headed, subtle-meshed, subtle-nosed, subtle-paced, subtle-scented, subtle-shadowed, subtle-souled, subtle-thoughted, subtle-tongued, subtle-witted. Also objective, as subtle-subtilising vbl. n.
1603Florio Montaigne ii. xvii. (1632) 366 The more..*subtle-brained a man is, the more is he hated.
1818Keats Endym. i. 493 'Twas a lay More *subtle cadenced..Than Dryope's lone lulling of her child.
1571Golding Calvin on Ps. xvii. 4 There bee some *suttleheaded persones, which mark other mennes dooinges narowly. 1596Spenser View St. Ireland Wks. (Globe) 618/2 Yet will some one or other suttle-headed fellowe..pike some quirke.
1907Academy 10 Aug. 766/1 On that side he laid a *subtle-meshed web from end to end.
1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 32 The *suttlenosed [F. gaudisseurs] and babbling men do easily mock out this.
1830Tennyson Isabel 21 A most silver flow Of *subtle-paced counsel in distress.
1871Rossetti Poems, Love's Nocturn xv, So do mounting vapours wreathe *Subtle-scented transports.
1609Daniel Civ. Wars vii. xiv, Here Scottish border broyles, and feares of Fraunce,..Brought forth a *suttle-shadowed countenance.
1819Shelley Peter Bell 3rd v. ii, He was a mighty poet—and A *subtle-souled psychologist.
1860Symonds in Life (1895) I. 362 Refinements and *subtle-subtilisings of all sorts.
1830Tennyson Ode to Memory 118 Those whom passion hath not blinded, *Subtle-thoughted, myriad-minded.
1639G. Daniel Ecclus. xxi. 22 The proud Orator And *Subtle-Tongu'd Man.
1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices iii. (1558) 137 It is a part not..of a good man: but rather of a *suttlewitted. 1664Butler Hud. ii. iii. 470 But Sidrophel more subtle-witted, Cry'd out. 1820Shelley Hymn Merc. lxvi, Jupiter..Laughed heartily to hear the subtle-witted Infant give such a plausible account.
▪ II. † ˈsubtle, v. Obs.
Also 4–5 so-, sou-, sutille, -ele, -ile.
[a. OF. soutill(i)er = It. sottigliare:—med.L. subtīliāre, f. subtīlis subtle a.]
1. refl. and intr. To devise subtleties or subtle distinctions, to argue subtly.
a1340Hampole Psalter ii. 2 Whan þa þat sould gif þaim hally til godis luf..sutils þaim in swilk thynge þat draghs þaim fra thoght of heuen in till werldis besynes. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 139 Hit [sc. Theology] is no science forsoþe to sotilen þer-Inne.
2. intr. To scheme, plan craftily. Also with clause.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 379 Þe fend sutilliþ evere aȝens holy chirche. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 336 Ich sotelide how ich myghte Lette hem þat louede hym nat lest þei wolde hym martrye.
3. trans. To devise cleverly.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 214 Alle þise science I my-self sotiled and ordeyned. Ibid. xix. 454 Eche man sotileth a sleight synne forto hyde.
4. To attenuate, reduce.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 229 Þou must sotile his dietyng, & he schal not ete to miche.
5. ? To pulverize, reduce to ashes. nonce-use.
1624Fletcher Rule a Wife iv. i, A fire subtle ye, are ye so crafty?
Hence † ˈsubtling vbl. n. (in 5 sotelinge, sutiling), = subtilization.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. xi. (Bodl. MS.), White coloure is igendred for þynnynge & sotelinge of parties of þe mater. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. ix. 195 Of al such craft and sutiling ouȝten alle Cristen men be waar, that thei therbi be not bigilid. |