Subtilty

Subtilty
Subtilty Sub"til*ty, n. [Contr. fr. subtility.] 1. The quality or state of being subtile; thinness; fineness; as, the subtility of air or light. [1913 Webster]

2. Refinement; extreme acuteness; subtlety. [1913 Webster]

Intelligible discourses are spoiled by too much subtility in nice divisions. --Locke. [1913 Webster]

3. Cunning; skill; craft. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

To learn a lewd man this subtility. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

4. Slyness in design; artifice; guile; a cunning design or artifice; a trick; subtlety. [1913 Webster]

O full of all subtility and all mischief. --Acts xiii. 10. [1913 Webster]

Note: In senses 2, 3, and 4 the word is more commonly written subtlety. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • subtilty — noun (plural ties) Date: 14th century subtlety …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • subtilty — /sut l tee, sub til /, n., pl. subtilties. Archaic. subtlety. Also, subtility /sub til i tee/. * * * …   Universalium

  • subtilty — noun Subtlety …   Wiktionary

  • subtilty — n. 1. Rarity, thinness, etherealness, subtileness. 2. Fineness, slenderness. 3. Refinement, extreme nicety, subtlety, acuteness. 4. Slyness, cunning, artifice, craft, subtlety …   New dictionary of synonyms

  • subtilty — sub·til·ty …   English syllables

  • subtilty — like subtilety noun ( es) Etymology: Middle English subtiltee, alteration (influenced by Latin subtilis) of subtilte subtlety more at subtlety : subtlety or an instance of it …   Useful english dictionary

  • Refinement — Re*fine ment (r?*f?n ment), n. [Cf. F. raffinement.] 1. The act of refining, or the state of being refined; as, the refinement or metals; refinement of ideas. [1913 Webster] The more bodies are of kin to spirit in subtilty and refinement, the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Richard Coppin — was a seventeenth century English political and religious writer, and prolific radical pamphleteer and preacher. Late 1640s to late 1650sHe was an Anglican clergyman, until 1648, [cite book | last = Hill | first = Christopher | authorlink =… …   Wikipedia

  • English words first attested in Chaucer — Contents 1 Etymology 2 List 2.1 Canterbury Tales General Prologue …   Wikipedia

  • Rarity — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Rarity >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 rarity rarity tenuity Sgm: N 1 absence of solidity absence of solidity &c. 321 Sgm: N 1 subtility subtility Sgm: N 1 subtilty subtilty subtlety Sgm: N 1 sponginess …   English dictionary for students

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