| 释义 |
subtilityn. Origin: Probably of multiple origins. Probably partly a borrowing from French. Probably partly a borrowing from Latin. Probably partly a variant or alteration of another lexical item; modelled on a Latin lexical item. Etymons: French subtilité , sotilité ; Latin subtīlitāt- , subtīlitās ; subtlety n. Etymology: Probably partly (i) < Anglo-Norman and Middle French subtilité, Middle French subtillité, variants of Anglo-Norman sotilité, sutilité, sutilitie, Old French soutillité, sutillité, Old French, Middle French soutilité subtlety n.; partly (ii) < its ulterior etymon classical Latin subtīlitāt-, subtīlitās fineness of texture or consistency, extreme slenderness, fineness of detail, delicate workmanship, neatness of contrivance, fineness of perception, acuteness, minute thoroughness, precision of argument, exact adherence to the letter of the law, in post-classical Latin also trick, device (5th cent.), guile (from 12th cent. in British sources; < subtīlis subtle adj. + -tās : see -ty suffix1; compare -ity suffix); and partly (iii) a variant of subtlety n. with remodelling after classical Latin subtīlitāt-, subtīlitās (for parallels in other Romance languages and Germanic languages, see subtlety n.). Compare earlier subtlety n., and also subtilty n.In modern use, subtility is chiefly used as the abstract noun corresponding to the physical senses of subtile adj. (‘thin’, ‘rarefied’, etc.), whereas subtilty is chiefly used in moral and intellectual senses. subtlety n. is much more common than either word. Now somewhat archaic in most senses. Chiefly superseded by subtlety n. 1. the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > cunning > [noun] > deep or subtle a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) ii. l. 2378 With sleihte and with soubtilite. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour (St. John's Cambr.) x. 38 The king, that in all assays Wes fundyn wis and rycht werte, Persauit thair subtilite. 1534 G. Ferrers tr. f. 169 An hole towne or a countre is deceyued by such craft and subtilitie. 1567 (1897) 99 Defend me from the fals subtellitie Of wickit men. 1607 E. Topsell 228 To signifie how irreligious pastors in holy habittes beguile the simple with subtility. 1660 J. Tombes Ep. Ded. sig. A2v Their activity, subtility, perfidiousness, cruelty beyond any sort of men,..should alarm and awaken us. 1737 Feb. 106 They rarely fail to trick, especially Strangers, when it lies in their Power, and are not ashamed to boast of their Subtility. a1761 W. Law (1809) 59 An earthly animal that only excelled..the beasts, in an upright form and serpentine subtility. 1823 27 Nature had probably thrown into his countenance something which phisiognomy would call an air of archness, cunning and subtility. 1876 Oct. 254 Of moral subtility, such as plots and conspirators require, he was wholly destitute. 1955 G. Grigson 200 Its mana is so strong that it keeps evil and witchcraft, the craft and subtility of the devil, at bay. 2008 V. Sharpe 19 Your adversary, the devil, has tried to cause you to feel isolated... Don't you dare be deceived by his subtility. the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > cunning > [noun] > a wile or cunning device the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > (a) means > available means or a resource > a device, contrivance, or expedient c1410 (c1395) G. Chaucer (Cambr. Dd.4.24) (1902) l. 2421 Lo swich sleightes and subtilitees In wommen ben. tr. Palladius (Duke Humfrey) (1896) xi. l. 290 Grekis haue an other subtilitee: Of see quyete vptaketh they maryne Water purest. 1484 W. Caxton tr. f. ij I shalle fynde a subtylyte that we shall haue no blame ne harme therfore. 1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello sig. Kki I woulde myne eyes bad beene seeled, and handes tormented with the quyueryng palsey, when firste I learned the subtilities and sleigtes of cardes and dise. c1600 W. Fowler tr. N. Machiavelli Prince in (1936) II. 163 In sic dyvers tranes and subtelytes of weir. 1673 R. Allestree i. 28 It needs none of those subtilities and simulations, those pretences and artifices. a1748 I. Watts (1753) IV. 599 These silly men were sometimes cheats and impostors, who practised the greatest subtilities and artifice to deceive the world. the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xix. 116 For þe subtilite of þis wit if he is wel disposid hit comfortiþ þe vertu of bestis. c1600 R. Lindsay (1899) I. 18 I knew the subtillitie sa weill that he hes ane merwellous foirsicht of all kynd of suspitioun. 1632 W. Lithgow ii. 62 Vlysses..excelled all other Greekes in..subtility of wit. 1737 J. Smith 26 It requires a nice Subtility of Thought to obtain a clear, adequate Notion of nascent and evanescent Quantities, of first and last Ratios. 1788 H. H. Kames IV. iii. iii. 434 Acuteness and subtility formed the character of the Greeks. Every man eminent for learning had his followers. 1835 Mar. 9 It [sc. Christianity] is supposed to require deep study, intellectual effort, and subtility, on the part of its converts. 1866 W. R. Alger iv. 187 Masters whose comprehensiveness and subtility of thinking have scarcely been surpassed. 1913 47 629 He possesses great subtility of mind, but it is only occasionally exhibited. the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [noun] > skill or adroitness α. c1415 (c1395) G. Chaucer (Lansd.) (1875) l. 1371 And men knewe al my subtilite Be god men wolde haue so grete envie To me..I scholde be dede. 1484 W. Caxton tr. v. f. cviij I..canne gyue remedy to al manere of sekenes by myn arte and subtylyte. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour (St. John's Cambr.) xx. 305 The gud lord of dowglas syne Gert mak ane cas of siluir fyne, Anamalyt throu subtilite. c1550 (1979) xx. 143 Ane cordinar..be grit subtilite neurissit tua ȝong corbeis in tua cagis. 1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 34 in It hath the subtility to swallow down Muscles, and keep them in the stomack, till the heat thereof hath opened the shell. 1669 T. Gale i. Introd. 4 It is the part of a Student, to require subtilitie or exactnesse in every kind. 1762 Ld. Kames I. ix. 410 When we examine the internal structure of a plant or animal, a wonderful subtility of mechanism is displayed. 1879 Jan. 354/2 Leonardo, though all his life an observer of human faces, had never attained to any subtility of command over emotional expression. 1913 13 Feb. 464/2 Their means for locking the wheels in place vie with each other in shrewdness and subtility. 2000 P. G. Maxwell-Stuart tr. M. Del Rio i. 53 Bodin notes that they usually mingle one piece of subtility or technical dexterity with ten magical tricks. 4. the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > misleading argument, sophistry > excessive subtlety, hair-splitting > [noun] the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > subtle point > drawing of a1425 (a1400) (1916) Coloss. ii. 4 (MED) Þis forsoþe I seye þat no man disceyue ȝou in sutilite of woordis. c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 855 Haue y not preved thus symply With-outen any subtilite Of speche or grete prolixite? 1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville (Caxton) iv. xxviii. f. lxxv Powle wrytynge to the Romayns, amonges whome at that tyme was had greete subtylite in philosophye. 1559 W. Bavand tr. J. Ferrarius ix. f. 206v Chrisippus the Stoike, in subtilitie of disputacione, was very captious against his aduersaries. 1575 J. Rolland ii. f. 19v In argumentis full of subtilitie. 1605 F. Bacon i. sig. F1 This same vnprofitable subtilitie or curiositie is of two sorts. View more context for this quotation 1663 G. Harvey II. i. xxii. 172 There appears no great subtility in his argument. 1728 C. Nary 161 Here was displayed all the Art of Rhetorick, all the Subtility of Logick. 1791 W. Anderson vi. i. 326 Fertile he was in the invention and subtility of his arguments. 1807 J. Sinclair III. ii. ix. 368 These advantages..are counterbalanced by some defects, by a copiousness which is often diffuse, and by a degree of minute subtility. 1866 Jan. 527 The disciples of Buddha are not likely to yield to Christianity through any want of theological adroitness and subtility. 1904 F. Rolfe Prooimion 34 The miserable little wretches, who can't possibly grasp the subtility of a distinguo, put undue importance on that abominable word ‘only’. 1993 M. J. F. M. Hoenen vii. 215 Marsilius urged that it [sc. the question of whether God is the cause of evil] be handled with great caution and without too much logical subtility. the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > subtle point the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > subtle point > collectively c1485 ( G. Hay (2005) 194 Jt is commendable yat a prince fynd lawis of subtiliteis to ger law and resoun be done quhare men fleis the law. 1542 T. Becon Ep. Ded. sig. A.iij Our stryfe is not, sayth S. Paule, agaynst bloud & flesshe, but..agaynst spirituall subtilities in heauenly thinges. 1589 G. Puttenham ii. xi. 75 I being very inquisitiue to know of the subtillities of those countreyes, and especially in matter of learning. a1648 Ld. Herbert (1976) 19 Theire Tutors comonly spend much tyme in teaching them the subtilityes of Logicke. 1683 D. A. 44 We must deal plainly and seriously with such men, waving all in promptu's and subtilities. 1764 ‘G. Psalmanazar’ 41 Controversies clogged..with sophistry and endless subtilities. 1845 J. Lingard (ed. 3) II. xi. 178 The subtilities of philosophers. 1881 Apr. 163/2 Leaving aside altogether these theological subtilities, [etc.]. 1912 E. B. Krehbiel tr. A. Luchaire vii. 218 It is possible..that part of it [sc. property] was gained honestly and the rest dishonestly. It is then that the subtilities of the casuistic scholars find their employment. 2005 J. V. Subrahmanyam 122 To express these nuances and subtilities we have a number of ways. the world > matter > constitution of matter > lack of density > [noun] ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 176v (MED) Acetum..haþ componed vertue with most subtilite. ?a1450 tr. Lanfranc (BL Add. 12056) (1894) 43 Þe medicyne þenne most ben hote & drye, wiþ subtilite [a1400 Ashm. 1396 subtiliate] as terbentyne to moiste bodyes; & to drye bodyes, he most be medlyde wiþ a lytel eufforbium. a1530 W. Bonde (1531) iii. f. CCxxix The fourth dowry [sc. of the body], is, subtilite. 1554 D. Lindsay Dialog Experience & Courteour l. 6169 in (1931) I Subtellyte thay [sc. the blessed] sall haue maruellouslye. 1612 J. Cotta ii. iv. 111 Is it not apparent that the aire of this vapor and smoke by the subtility therof, doth sodainly search all parts with a generall distresse oft times to nature? 1652 E. Benlowes vi. lxxv. 90 They..far surpasse the Sun-beams in Subtilitie. 1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont 69 There is no part..in which the Subtility and Suppleness of the Sap more claim our Admiration, than in Trees that are grafted. 1790 Nov. 624/2 On the summit of Mount Ætna, Mr. Hamilton observes, that he was sensible of a difficulty in respiration, from the too great subtility of the air. 1801 (Royal Soc.) 92 46 The utmost imaginable subtility of the corpuscles of light. 1876 9 Mar. 208/2 Smears of lime and cow dung,..combined with soft soap, to give subtility and penetration to the mixture. 1910 C. A. Stephens i. iv. 109 We live..in a medium of such tenuity, elasticity and sensitiveness, that even our conceptions of the swiftness and subtility of electricity fail to convey an adequate idea of its properties. 1990 F. G. Frank in G. S. Rousseau iv. 118 Gassendi went on to show how..subtility, hardness, smoothness, fluidity, humidity and ductility..could be transposed out of the Aristotelian categories of essences and substantial forms. the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > delicacy of 1494 Loutfut MS f. 11, in at Subtilte The salphir the quhilk excedis of hir beaulte and subtilite mony diuers thingis inuisbilis. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny II. xxii. xxiv. 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. 1719 No. 155. 1 Such Unlikeliness as, by their Subtility, escape the Observation of Judgments less Acute. 1760 J. Adams tr. A. de Ulloa (ed. 2) I. vi. i. 318 They pierce the skin with such subtility, that there is no being aware of them, till they have made their way into the flesh. 1833 D. Olmsted i. v. 40 The..microscope..greatly enlarges our conceptions of the delicacy, perfection, and subtility of the works of nature. 1890 E. Dowson (1967) 146 As for Browning!.. The subtility, the tact of omission. 1913 13 Dec. 799/2 She intuitively expresses every thought with the slightest movement of her body... This rare subtility of gesture..could have made Montessori into a great actress. 1925 Oct. 203/2 You have great difficulty in preventing him from drinking champagne with his fish, and most often the subtility of the liqueur nonplusses him. 2002 D. Aerts in 207 The subtility of the nature of ‘what is real’ already appears in full splendor if we analyze carefully the way in which we attribute several properties at once to an entity. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.a1393 |
