subtil
English
Adjective
subtil (comparative more subtil, superlative most subtil)
- Obsolete form of subtle; sly, artful, cunning
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 3:1:
- Now the serpent was more subtill then any beast of the field, which the LORD God had made, and he said vnto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of euery tree of the garden?
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Wisdom of Solomon 7:22–23:
- For wisedome which is the worker of all things, taught mee: for in her is an vnderstanding spirit holy, one onely, manifold, subtile, liuely, cleare, vndefiled, plaine, not subiect to hurt, louing the thing that is good, quicke, which cānot be letted, ready to do good: Kinde to man, stedfast, sure, free from care, hauing all power, ouerseeing all things, and going through all vnderstanding, pure, and most subtile spirits.
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References
- subtil in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
Anagrams
- builts, bultis
Catalan
Etymology
Latin subtīlis
Pronunciation
- (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA(key): /supˈtil/
Adjective
subtil (masculine and feminine plural subtils)
- subtle
Derived terms
- subtilesa
- subtilment
Further reading
- “subtil” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
- “subtil”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
- “subtil” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Danish
Etymology
From Latin subtīlis (“fine, thin”), from sub + tēla (“a web”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /subtiːl/, [sub̥ˈtˢiːˀl]
Adjective
subtil
- subtle
Inflection
| Inflection of subtil | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
| Common singular | subtil | — | —2 |
| Neuter singular | subtilt | — | —2 |
| Plural | subtile | — | —2 |
| Definite attributive1 | subtile | — | — |
| 1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used. 2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively. | |||
References
- “subtil” in Den Danske Ordbog
French
Etymology
Semi-learned term, modified from the inherited Old French sotil, soutil after the original etymology, Latin subtīlis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /syp.til/
Audio (file)
Adjective
subtil (feminine subtile, masculine plural subtils, feminine plural subtiles)
- subtle
Further reading
- “subtil”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
German
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin subtīlis.
Pronunciation
Audio (Austria) (file) Audio (file)
Adjective
subtil (strong nominative masculine singular subtiler, comparative subtiler, superlative am subtilsten)
- subtle
Declension
Positive forms of subtil
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
| predicative | er ist subtil | sie ist subtil | es ist subtil | sie sind subtil | |
| strong declension (without article) | nominative | subtiler | subtile | subtiles | subtile |
| genitive | subtilen | subtiler | subtilen | subtiler | |
| dative | subtilem | subtiler | subtilem | subtilen | |
| accusative | subtilen | subtile | subtiles | subtile | |
| weak declension (with definite article) | nominative | der subtile | die subtile | das subtile | die subtilen |
| genitive | des subtilen | der subtilen | des subtilen | der subtilen | |
| dative | dem subtilen | der subtilen | dem subtilen | den subtilen | |
| accusative | den subtilen | die subtile | das subtile | die subtilen | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) | nominative | ein subtiler | eine subtile | ein subtiles | (keine) subtilen |
| genitive | eines subtilen | einer subtilen | eines subtilen | (keiner) subtilen | |
| dative | einem subtilen | einer subtilen | einem subtilen | (keinen) subtilen | |
| accusative | einen subtilen | eine subtile | ein subtiles | (keine) subtilen | |
Comparative forms of subtil
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
| predicative | er ist subtiler | sie ist subtiler | es ist subtiler | sie sind subtiler | |
| strong declension (without article) | nominative | subtilerer | subtilere | subtileres | subtilere |
| genitive | subtileren | subtilerer | subtileren | subtilerer | |
| dative | subtilerem | subtilerer | subtilerem | subtileren | |
| accusative | subtileren | subtilere | subtileres | subtilere | |
| weak declension (with definite article) | nominative | der subtilere | die subtilere | das subtilere | die subtileren |
| genitive | des subtileren | der subtileren | des subtileren | der subtileren | |
| dative | dem subtileren | der subtileren | dem subtileren | den subtileren | |
| accusative | den subtileren | die subtilere | das subtilere | die subtileren | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) | nominative | ein subtilerer | eine subtilere | ein subtileres | (keine) subtileren |
| genitive | eines subtileren | einer subtileren | eines subtileren | (keiner) subtileren | |
| dative | einem subtileren | einer subtileren | einem subtileren | (keinen) subtileren | |
| accusative | einen subtileren | eine subtilere | ein subtileres | (keine) subtileren | |
Superlative forms of subtil
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
| predicative | er ist am subtilsten | sie ist am subtilsten | es ist am subtilsten | sie sind am subtilsten | |
| strong declension (without article) | nominative | subtilster | subtilste | subtilstes | subtilste |
| genitive | subtilsten | subtilster | subtilsten | subtilster | |
| dative | subtilstem | subtilster | subtilstem | subtilsten | |
| accusative | subtilsten | subtilste | subtilstes | subtilste | |
| weak declension (with definite article) | nominative | der subtilste | die subtilste | das subtilste | die subtilsten |
| genitive | des subtilsten | der subtilsten | des subtilsten | der subtilsten | |
| dative | dem subtilsten | der subtilsten | dem subtilsten | den subtilsten | |
| accusative | den subtilsten | die subtilste | das subtilste | die subtilsten | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) | nominative | ein subtilster | eine subtilste | ein subtilstes | (keine) subtilsten |
| genitive | eines subtilsten | einer subtilsten | eines subtilsten | (keiner) subtilsten | |
| dative | einem subtilsten | einer subtilsten | einem subtilsten | (keinen) subtilsten | |
| accusative | einen subtilsten | eine subtilste | ein subtilstes | (keine) subtilsten | |
Related terms
- Subtilität
Further reading
- “subtil” in Duden online
- “subtil” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Middle English
Adjective
subtil
- Alternative form of sotil
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Latin subtilis.
Adjective
subtil (masculine and feminine subtil, neuter subtilt, definite singular and plural subtile)
- subtle
References
- “subtil” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
- “subtil” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Latin subtilis.
Adjective
subtil (neuter subtilt, definite singular and plural subtile)
- subtle
References
- “subtil” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /subˈt͡ʃiw/ [subˈt͡ʃiʊ̯], /su.biˈt͡ʃiw/ [su.biˈt͡ʃiʊ̯]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /subˈt͡ʃiw/ [subˈt͡ʃiʊ̯]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /suˈbtil/ [suˈβtiɫ]
- Rhymes: (Portugal) -il, (Brazil) -iw
- Hyphenation: sub‧til
Adjective
subtil m or f (plural subtis)
- European Portuguese standard spelling of sutil.
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French subtil and Latin subtīlis. Doublet of subțire.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /subˈtil/
Adjective
subtil m or n (feminine singular subtilă, masculine plural subtili, feminine and neuter plural subtile)
- subtle
Declension
Declension of subtil
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
| nominative/ accusative | indefinite | subtil | subtilă | subtili | subtile | ||
| definite | subtilul | subtila | subtilii | subtilele | |||
| genitive/ dative | indefinite | subtil | subtile | subtili | subtile | ||
| definite | subtilului | subtilei | subtililor | subtilelor | |||
Related terms
- subtilitate
- subtiliza
- subtilizare
- subtilizat
Swedish
Adjective
subtil (comparative subtilare, superlative subtilast)
- subtle
Declension
| Inflection of subtil | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | subtil | subtilare | subtilast |
| Neuter singular | subtilt | subtilare | subtilast |
| Plural | subtila | subtilare | subtilast |
| Masculine plural3 | subtile | subtilare | subtilast |
| Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Masculine singular1 | subtile | subtilare | subtilaste |
| All | subtila | subtilare | subtilaste |
| 1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic | |||
Related terms
- subtilitet (“subtlety”)