| 释义 |
subtilize, v.|ˈsʌ(b)tɪlaɪz|
Also 6 subtelise, 7 subtillize, 7– subtilise.
[ad. med.L. subtīlizāre, f. subtīlis subtle a.: see -ize. Cf. F. subtiliser, It. sottilezzare, Sp. sutilizar, Pg. subtilisar.]
1. trans. To render thin or rare, less gross or coarse, more fluid or volatile; to rarefy, refine. (occas. const. into.) Now rare or Obs.
1597Lowe Chirurg. ix. Cc 3 If the bloud be grosse, vse frictions to subtilize it and make it runne. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1339 For aire is engendred by the extinction of fire: and the same againe being subtilized and rarefied, produceth fire. 1662Merrett tr. Neri's Art of Glass xliii, That the water may penetrate and subtilise the ingredients. 1680Boyle Exper. Chem. Princ. i. 26 Fermentation rarefy's the oyly parts of the Juice of Grapes, and subtilizes them into vinous spirits. 1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Leaves, To subtilize..the Abundance of nourishing Sap, and to convey it to the little Buds. 1758Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 43 Fire only subtilizes and attenuates the earthy matter. 1863Kirk Chas. the Bold I. 61 There [sc. Flanders] the products of the earth are mingled, subtilized, shaped into new forms, exchanged, and redistributed.
absol.1612Benvenuto's Passenger i. ii. 103 Those preserued in pickle doe astringe, subtilize, cut, obsterpe and open. 1725Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Saxifrage, The properties of it are to..Cleanse, Open, Subtilize and Dissolve.
†b. To sublimate. Obs.
1611Cotgr. s.v. Sublimé, Argent sublimé, Mercurie subtilized by the Limbecke. 1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 120 Repeat this till you can subtilize no more of calx.
†c. To comminute. Obs.
a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 7 Stirring the earth, subtilizing it's parts, and turning it up to the air. 1739tr. Algarotti on Newton's Philos. (1742) II. 102 When they are ground (that is, when their Parts are subtilised) their Colours change.
2. fig. To exalt, elevate, sublime, refine.
1638T. Whitaker Blood of Grape 34 What panick feares doth wine prevent in the Souldier subtilizing their drooping spirits. 1652J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox i. 20 What cannot this Passion do when it refineth and subtilizeth thus such young Souls! 1750Johnson Rambler No. 114 ⁋5 The art of thievery is..subtilized to higher degrees of dexterity. 1774J. Bryant Mythol. II. 276 He tries to subtilize, and refine all the base jargon about Saturn. 1836Blackw. Mag. XL. 329 We subtilize this conception till we fit it to make part of our notion of matter in its utmost abstraction. 1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics (1860) I. iii. ii. 61 By reducing the soul to its most abstract simplicity, we subtilise it so that it expands into the infinite. 1870R. C. Jebb Sophocles' Electra (ed. 2) p. ix, The mythus..has been..gradually subtilized by touches palliating the crime. 1910Even. Post (N.Y.) 15 Jan. 6 The attempt to subtilize and mysticize the plain old freebooting narrative.
b. const. into, to; also with away.
1644Digby Nat. Bodies 3 b, Sence with distinctions they so nicely pare, They subtilize it quite away to aire. 1661Glanvill Van. Dogm. xvii. 167 The most obvious Verity is subtiliz'd into niceties, and spun into a thread indiscernible by common Opticks. 1742Young Nt. Th. v. 9 To raise the low, to magnify the mean, And subtilize the gross into refin'd. 1852Hawthorne Blithedale Rom. xii. (1879) 124 By long brooding over our recollections, we subtilize them into something akin to imaginary stuff.
3. To render (the mind, the senses, etc.) acute or penetrating.
1642H. More Song of Soul iii. i. xxxii, Rayes down sent From higher sourse the mind do maken pure, Do clear, do subtilise. 1652J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox x. 239 See..how the extremity of danger doth subtilize men's Wits. 1725Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Air, Good Air..exhilarates the Heart, subtilizes the Senses, sharpens the Understanding. 1865Daily Tel. 9 Nov. 6/6 Subtilising and strengthening his intellect by familiarity with the psychological and ontological problems of the schools.
4. To render subtle, introduce subtleties or nice distinctions into; also, to argue subtly upon.
1599Sandys Europæ Spec. (1629) 155 They which do subtilize the points of goodnes more curiously, will say that Pivs Quintvs was a good Prælat, but no good Prince. 1635J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Banish'd Virg. 33 Speculation too much subtilized makes a man unfit..for the contemplative life. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. x. §7 'Tis no wonder if the wit of man so employ'd, should perplex, involve, and subtilize the signification of sounds. 1732Waterland Chr. Vind. agst. Infid. 48 The Mysticks followed, and deviated in like manner with the former, by over-refining and subtilizing plain Things. 1745Warburton Serm. (2 Pet. i. 6) Wks. 1788 V. 134 They spent their whole lives in agitating and subtilizing questions of faith. 1814D'Israeli Quarrels Auth. (1867) 260 Plain words were subtilised to remove conceits. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. i, He commented upon expressions, he split and subtilized words.
5. intr. To make subtle distinctions; to argue or reason in a subtle manner; to split hairs.
1592Daniel Compl. Rosamond xxxii, Th' one autentique made her fit to teach, The other learnt her how to subtelise. 1606Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. Magnificence 476 In doubtfull Cases he can subtilize. a1754Maclaurin Serm. & Ess. (1755) 330 It should make us very cautious how we subtilize against it. a1797H. Walpole Geo. II (1847) II. iv. 115 We were not.., by being taught to subtilize, to lose respect for the essential. 1873Symonds Grk. Poets vii. 203 Wrangling, perorating, subtilizing, seeking victory in strife of words.
b. Const. on, upon, about. Also in indirect pass.
1644Digby Nat. Bodies vi. §1. 40 Of such nature, are the qualities and moodes, that some moderne Philosophers haue so subtilised vpon. 1653R. G. tr. Bacon's Hist. Winds 174 They would not subtilize about that subject in infinitum. 1662Evelyn Sculptura 107 However afterwards subtilized upon and cultivated. 1758Goldsm. Mem. Protestant (1895) II. 103 But what will not Men do..who subtilize upon the commonest Duties until they no longer appear binding? 1843Mrs. Browning Lett. R. H. Horne (1877) I. 70 It [sc. shyness] is a species of consciousness which is..resolvable into self-love, subtilise about it as we may. 1858–9G. P. Marsh Engl. Lang. xiii. (1862) 193 Rask..has subtilized so far upon them [sc. intonations], that few of his own country⁓men, even, have sufficient acuteness of ear to follow him.
Hence ˈsubtilized ppl. a.
1674A. G. Quest. conc. Oath Alleg. 21 Heat first extenuates, and then draws away the subtiliz'd parts. 1719Quincy Compl. Disp. 9 What passes for Spirit as a Principle, is no other than an highly subtilized Salt. 1741Middleton Cicero II. 549 The Stoics fancied, that the soul was a subtilized, fiery substance. 1858Sears Athan. vii. 64 Not that the spiritual world is a subtilized natural one on the plane of materialism. 1878Hardy Ret. Native iii. viii, Brimming with the subtilised misery that he was capable of feeling. |