| 释义 |
subtlyadv. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: subtle adj., -ly suffix2. Etymology: < subtle adj. + -ly suffix2. Compare Anglo-Norman and Old French sotilment , Old French, Middle French sutilment (1119), Old Occitan sotilmen (a1250), Spanish sutilmente (a1250 as †sotilmente ), Italian sottilmente (13th cent.). Compare subtilely adv.With the β. forms compare discussion at subtle adj. the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > cunning > [adverb] α. 1340 (1866) 26 (MED) Þo byeþ ypocrites sotyls þet sotilliche wylleþ heȝe cliue and steleþ þe dingnetes and þe baylyes. a1375 (c1350) (1867) 4783 (MED) Þei cast hadde to haue sotiliche sleyn him-self & his fader. c1400 (Peterhouse) (1991) l. 379 Sotelych, for soþe, þei don þe kynges hest: Whan ech man haþ his parte, þe kynge haþ þe lest. a1450 ( in J. Kail (1904) 57 Mede wiþ poyson sotyly is maynt. ?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in (1998) I. 47 I wes dissymblit suttelly in a sanctis liknes. 1535 Acts vii. C The same dealte suttely with oure kynred. 1600 P. Holland tr. Livy xxxv. xiv. 896 How suttelly and cautelously he had like a cunning Carthaginian, couched his words in a certeine kind of flatterie. 1641 J. Milton 15 Suttly to cast a jealousie upon the Crowne. the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adverb] > with skill or art > ingeniously α. 1340 (1866) 58 (MED) Efterward byeþ þe tales and þe uayre zigginges, huer-of hi habbeþ moche of ydele blisse þo þet hise conne sotilliche zigge uor þe herkneres do wel lheȝȝe. a1375 (c1350) (1867) l. 3117 We be so sotiliche be-sewed in þise hides. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 425 It was i-made sotilliche by gravynge craft. a1450 (c1435) J. Lydgate Life SS. Edmund & Fremund (Harl.) 956 in C. Horstmann (1881) 2nd Ser. 413 Except only, who sotylly took heed, A space appered breede of a purpil threed. a1500 (?a1450) (Harl. 7333) (1879) 170 To have a sherte sotelyche I-made for his body. 1575 J. Rolland i. f. 3v Tabletis of gold,..With Saphiris set so suttellie and sound. 1667 J. Milton viii. 207 Thou seest How suttly to detaine thee I devise. View more context for this quotation the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [adverb] > with delicacy the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > misleading argument, sophistry > excessive subtlety, hair-splitting > [adverb] c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham (1902) 137 (MED) Hare oȝe wyt, hyt hym by-kecheþ, Þat god so sotylleche secheþ, Þat syt so heȝe. 1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin (1634) i. xiii. 54 In too subtlely pearcing into the high misterie. 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas i. ii. 69 I know how subt'ly, greatest Clarkes Presume to argue in their learned Works. 1660 C. Hoole tr. Pliny the Younger in 78 He disputeth subtly, gravely, and neatly; he often also imitateth that heighth and broadnesse which was in Plato. 1749 D. Hartley i. iv. Concl. 512 Matter and Motion, however subtly divided, or reasoned upon, yield nothing more than Matter and Motion still. 1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton I. ii. viii. 234 Let us not talk of these matters so subtly. 1871 Oct. 498 No one has seen this truth more clearly than Mr. Jowett, or has applied it more subtly to the various aspects of Platonism. 1912 at Sutton, Henry Septimus A series of simply phrased but subtly argued poems. 1946 J. Masefield 5 Then she would subtly question with her son. 2005 R. J. Kaczorowski i. 9 In a subtly reasoned opinion, Justice Swayne upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act and federal jurisdiction. a1400 tr. Lanfranc (Ashm.) (1894) 338 (MED) Fenigrec maad to poudre, sotili poudred. ?a1500 in G. Henslow (1899) 51 (MED) Take..whete-mele þat ys wel y-boutyd, and strowe vppon þe clout fayre and sotele. 1678 J. Harding tr. B. Valentine (new ed.) 101 Subtly grind the Caput-mortuum, and in a Cellar permit it to resolve into Water. 1883 13 July 824/2 This metal, very subtlely powdered, was applied as a pigment to the brows of oriental beauties. 5. the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > depth, obscurity > [adverb] a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 137 (MED) Sonne, attende diligently þe mevynges of nature, for þei are ful contrarie & sotelly mevid, and þei can unneþe be parceued. a1637 B. Jonson in (1640) II. 206 Love was as subtly catch'd as a Disease. 1740 G. Turnbull I. i. ix. 245 How subtly, or by what imperceptible steps do beings rise to man? 1772 C. Talbot II. 169 What art thou, Memory of former Days, That dost so subtly touch the feeling Heart? 1874 J. R. Green iv. §1. 157 The song passes swiftly and subtly into a world of romantic sentiment. 1890 Jan. 191 A very strong impression of French superiority was very subtly instilled. 1912 19 Oct. 5/2 A religious intolerance as subtly vicious as was ever the fanatical impetus of the Crescent. 1923 22 Feb. 1 Natural elegance subtly idealised by skilful Corsetry. 1962 A. Lurie xv. 300 Living in a small town had subtly affected my mind, and I had begun to Think Small. 2004 Nov. 86/1 You don't have to stop being mates with boys, but try and subtly remind them of your girliness. the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly 1733 A. Pope i. 199 In the nice Bee, what sense so subtly true From pois'nous herbs extracts the healing dew. 1740 J. Dyer 2 Minuter Art, Gliconian forms, or Phidian, subtly fair, O'erwhelming. 1849 J. Ruskin v. 147 The Pisan front is far more subtly proportioned. 1876 ‘G. Eliot’ IV. viii. lxvi. 303 This subtly-poised physical susceptibility. 1925 Jan. 306/1 It was a room decorous and subtly bright, a place for the concoction of junkets and cherry-pies. 1957 M. Seuphor 184 Free-styled compositions subtly shaded. 2008 15 May 32/3 A subtly spicy..seafood sauce. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  adv.1340 |
