| 释义 |
subtilty|ˈsʌ(b)tɪltɪ|
Forms: 4 subtilete, 4–6 subtilte(e, 5–6 -tylte(e, 5–7 -tialtie, -tiltye, 8 -tilety, 5– subtilty.
[Alteration of ME. sutilte, subtlety after subtile. Cf. subtility.
Now used as an occas. variant of subtlety in moral and intellectual senses.]
†1. Acuteness, penetration, perspicacity; = subtlety 1. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Sompn. T. 582 They seyde subtiltee And heigh wit made hym speke as he spak. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 3 Commonly called thangelical doctor, for the subtiltie of his witte [orig. ob acumen ingenii]. 1611Bible Prov. i. 4 To giue subtiltie to the simple, to the yong man knowledge and discretion. 1651Hobbes Leviathan i. xi. 49 A better stratagem, than any that can proceed from subtilty of Wit. 1748Hartley Observ. Man i. iii. §1. 298 The Subtilty and Extent of his intellectual Faculties.
†2. Skill, cleverness, dexterity; = subtlety 2.
c1386Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 499 Ther nys no comparison Bitwixe the wisedom and discrecion Of youre fader and of his subtiltee. 1474Caxton Chesse iii. viii. (1883) 148 Hit is gretter subtilte to kepe well his owne goodes. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Solertia,..craftinesse, or subtiltie in practisinge good or ill. 1660H. Bloome Archit. C j b, Wit and subtilty in the Art of working in stone.
3. Cunning, craftiness, guile; = subtlety 3.
c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 1254 What subtilte, what newe lust..haue ye to me? c1386― Sqr.'s T. 132 She shal his treson see, His newe loue, and al his subtiltee. 1515Barclay Egloges iii. (1570) C j/1 Blinded with fraude and subtiltie. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 525 The Englishemen entered by subtiltie into the gate, and so gat the Dongeon. 1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. 3 That olde adage, Much curtesie, much subtiltie. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 16 Having experienced his false subtiltie, and knowing that he sought delaies onely till he could have aide from Spaine. 1671Milton P.R. i. 144 Let him [sc. Satan] tempt and now assay His utmost subtilty. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 144 §1 Subtilty furnishes Arms to Impudence, and Invention leads on Credulity. 1834Newman Par. Serm. I. xix. 294 Beware then of the subtilty of your Enemy.
†4. A cunning or clever device, artifice, stratagem; = subtlety 4. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. T. 291 To lerne a lewed man this subtiltee. c1386― Wife's Prol. 576 (Selden MS.) I bar him on honde he had enchaunted me, My dame taughte me that subtilte. c1440Pallad. on Husb. xi. 290 Grekis haue an other subtiltee. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 229 He began to..auyse hym of a grete subtylte for to come to hys entente. 1558G. Cavendish Poems (1825) II. 142 At the last this subtiltie I fand. 1576Turbervile Venerie xvi, Of the Nature and Subtilties of Hartes. 1655E. Terry Voy. E. India ii. 103 Nature hath taught them this subtilty..to build their Nests in the twigs, and the utmost boughs of those Trees. 1722De Foe Plague (1754) 38 A Subtilty of one of those Quack-operators with which he gull'd the poor People. 1734tr. Rollin's Rom. Hist. (1827) III. 97 A treasure of subtilties and stratagems of infinite value.
†5. Cookery. = subtlety 5. Obs.
c1504in Leland Collectanea (1715) VI. 25 A Subtiltie, a Kyng syttyng in a Chayre with many Lordes about hym. 1513Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. (1868) 272 Fruyter vaunte, with a subtylte. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 216 b, The first course..was xxviii dishes besides subtilties and shippes made of waxe mervailous gorgious to beholde. [1861Our Engl. Home 70 Notices of the ‘subtilties’, as the ornamental dishes were called, are curious.]
†6. Thinness, tenuity, rarity; = subtlety 8.
a1395Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) ii. xlvi, By the self lyght maye the soule see the fairhede of angels..the subtylte of hem in substaunce. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 167 He..doeth transfourme the bodye of Christe into the subtiltie and thinnesse of a spirite. 1599Sir J. Davies Nosce Teipsum ii. clxxx, Nought tyes the Soule, her subtiltie is such. 1626Bacon Sylva §216 The Sutbilties of Articulate Sounds..may passe thorow Small Crannies, not confused. a1676Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. i. 8 Some things though they are..near unto us, yet are of that subtilty that they escape our Senses. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art ii. 179 He supposes the subtilty of this fluid to be so great, that it penetrates the pores of all bodies.
fig.1750Johnson Rambler No. 13 §14 The Threads of Reasoning..are frequently drawn to such Subtilty, that common Eyes cannot perceive..them.
†b. Acuity, pungency, penetratingness. Obs.
1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 101 The fat of a Leopard is grosse and sharp, it's subtiltie appeares in those that have a pulse in their temples, and the vertigo, the smell thereof being taken whilest it is rosting. 1794G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. I. i. 28 From the subtilty of the effluvia of bodies retaining their particular properties.
7. Excessive nicety or refinement in argument, etc.
c1550Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 111 In argumentis full of subtialtie. 1790Burke Rev. France 86, I have nothing to say to the clumsy subtilty of their political metaphysics. 1818Cruise Digest. (ed. 2) V. 452 These reasons savour of a wonderful subtilty. 1869Lecky Europ. Mor. I. 236 Subtilty of motives, refinements of feeling.
b. An instance of this, esp. pl.; = subtlety 7.
1474Caxton Chesse iii. v. (1883) 120 He is reputed most sage and wise that argueth and bryngeth in moste subtyltes. 1651G. W. tr. Cowel's Inst. 125 All those Roman subtilties are dissolved into the ancient Law of Nations. 1668Hale Rolle's Abridgm. Pref., Conversant in subtilties of Logick, Philosophy and the Schoolmen. 1681Stair Inst. Law Scot. ii. xxvi. 89 A new Subtilty was invented, to frustrat the Falcidian Law. 1713Derham Phys. Theol. 3 Such as are unacquainted with the Subtilties of Reasoning and Argumentation. 1758Johnson Idler No. 11 ⁋2 The numerous lovers of subtilties and paradoxes. 1830Mackintosh Eth. Philos. Wks. 1846 I. 55 Some part of the method and precision of the Schools was lost with their endless subtilties and their barbarous language. 1866Felton Greece, Anc. & Mod. II. 194 In the courts..the subtilties of argument..had..long been..reduced to system.
†8. Delicacy, fineness (of physical objects, movements). Obs.
1616B. Jonson Devil an Ass ii. i. 86 The subtilty o' my yest. 1626Bacon Sylva §98 Whatsoeuer is Inuisible, either in respect of the Finenesse of the Body it selfe;..Or of the Subtilty of the Motion. 1660H. Bloome Archit. B j b, The one after mans shape,..the other with womans subtilty. 1691Ray Creation i. (1704) 197 How would he have admired the immense Subtilty of their Parts. 1794G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. III. xxix. 186 An active medium..which..can so far deceive us by the subtilety of its vibrations. |