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.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 582 They seyde subtiltee And heigh wit made hym speke as he spak. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 3 Commonly called thangelical doctor, for the subtiltie of his witte [orig. ob acumen ingenii]. 1611 Bible Prov. i. 4 To giue subtiltie to the simple, to the yong man knowledge and discretion. 1651 Hobbes Leviathan i. xi. 49 A better stratagem, than any that can proceed from subtilty of Wit. 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. iii. §1. 298 The Subtilty and Extent of his intellectual Faculties. |
† 2. Skill, cleverness, dexterity;
= subtlety 2.
| c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 499 Ther nys no comparison Bitwixe the wisedom and discrecion Of youre fader and of his subtiltee. 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. viii. (1883) 148 Hit is gretter subtilte to kepe well his owne goodes. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Solertia,..craftinesse, or subtiltie in practisinge good or ill. 1660 H. Bloome Archit. C j b, Wit and subtilty in the Art of working in stone. |
3. Cunning, craftiness, guile;
= subtlety 3.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1254 What subtilte, what newe lust..haue ye to me? c 1386 ― Sqr.'s T. 132 She shal his treson see, His newe loue, and al his subtiltee. 1515 Barclay Egloges iii. (1570) C j/1 Blinded with fraude and subtiltie. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 525 The Englishemen entered by subtiltie into the gate, and so gat the Dongeon. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 3 That olde adage, Much curtesie, much subtiltie. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 16 Having experienced his false subtiltie, and knowing that he sought delaies onely till he could have aide from Spaine. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 144 Let him [sc. Satan] tempt and now assay His utmost subtilty. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 144 §1 Subtilty furnishes Arms to Impudence, and Invention leads on Credulity. 1834 Newman Par. Serm. I. xix. 294 Beware then of the subtilty of your Enemy. |
† 4. A cunning or clever device, artifice, stratagem;
= subtlety 4.
Obs.| c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. T. 291 To lerne a lewed man this subtiltee. c 1386 ― Wife's Prol. 576 (Selden MS.) I bar him on honde he had enchaunted me, My dame taughte me that subtilte. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xi. 290 Grekis haue an other subtiltee. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 229 He began to..auyse hym of a grete subtylte for to come to hys entente. 1558 G. Cavendish Poems (1825) II. 142 At the last this subtiltie I fand. 1576 Turbervile Venerie xvi, Of the Nature and Subtilties of Hartes. 1655 E. 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. 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 38 A Subtilty of one of those Quack-operators with which he gull'd the poor People. 1734 tr. Rollin's Rom. Hist. (1827) III. 97 A treasure of subtilties and stratagems of infinite value. |
† 5. Cookery.
= subtlety 5.
Obs.| c 1504 in Leland Collectanea (1715) VI. 25 A Subtiltie, a Kyng syttyng in a Chayre with many Lordes about hym. 1513 Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. (1868) 272 Fruyter vaunte, with a subtylte. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 216 b, The first course..was xxviii dishes besides subtilties and shippes made of waxe mervailous gorgious to beholde. [1861 Our Engl. Home 70 Notices of the ‘subtilties’, as the ornamental dishes were called, are curious.] |
† 6. Thinness, tenuity, rarity;
= subtlety 8.
| a 1395 Hylton 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. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 167 He..doeth transfourme the bodye of Christe into the subtiltie and thinnesse of a spirite. 1599 Sir J. Davies Nosce Teipsum ii. clxxx, Nought tyes the Soule, her subtiltie is such. 1626 Bacon Sylva §216 The Sutbilties of Articulate Sounds..may passe thorow Small Crannies, not confused. a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. i. 8 Some things though they are..near unto us, yet are of that subtilty that they escape our Senses. 1815 J. 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. 1750 Johnson 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.| 1661 Lovell 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. 1794 G. 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.
| c 1550 Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 111 In argumentis full of subtialtie. 1790 Burke Rev. France 86, I have nothing to say to the clumsy subtilty of their political metaphysics. 1818 Cruise Digest. (ed. 2) V. 452 These reasons savour of a wonderful subtilty. 1869 Lecky Europ. Mor. I. 236 Subtilty of motives, refinements of feeling. |
b. An instance of this,
esp. pl.;
= subtlety 7.
| 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. v. (1883) 120 He is reputed most sage and wise that argueth and bryngeth in moste subtyltes. 1651 G. W. tr. Cowel's Inst. 125 All those Roman subtilties are dissolved into the ancient Law of Nations. 1668 Hale Rolle's Abridgm. Pref., Conversant in subtilties of Logick, Philosophy and the Schoolmen. 1681 Stair Inst. Law Scot. ii. xxvi. 89 A new Subtilty was invented, to frustrat the Falcidian Law. 1713 Derham Phys. Theol. 3 Such as are unacquainted with the Subtilties of Reasoning and Argumentation. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 11 ¶2 The numerous lovers of subtilties and paradoxes. 1830 Mackintosh 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. 1866 Felton 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.| 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass ii. i. 86 The subtilty o' my yest. 1626 Bacon Sylva §98 Whatsoeuer is Inuisible, either in respect of the Finenesse of the Body it selfe;..Or of the Subtilty of the Motion. 1660 H. Bloome Archit. B j b, The one after mans shape,..the other with womans subtilty. 1691 Ray Creation i. (1704) 197 How would he have admired the immense Subtilty of their Parts. 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. III. xxix. 186 An active medium..which..can so far deceive us by the subtilety of its vibrations. |