subtilis

Latin

Etymology

From sub + tēla (“a web”).

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /subˈtiː.lis/, [s̠ʊpˈt̪iːlʲɪs̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /subˈti.lis/, [subˈt̪iːlis]

Adjective

subtīlis (neuter subtīle, comparative subtīlior, superlative subtīlissimus, adverb subtīliter); third-declension two-termination adjective

fine, thin, slender
precise, accurate, keen
(of speech) plain, unadorned, simple

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter	Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Number	Singular		Plural
Nominative	subtīlis	subtīle	subtīlēs	subtīlia
Genitive	subtīlis		subtīlium
Dative	subtīlī		subtīlibus
Accusative	subtīlem	subtīle	subtīlēs subtīlīs	subtīlia
Ablative	subtīlī		subtīlibus
Vocative	subtīlis	subtīle	subtīlēs	subtīlia

Derived terms

subtīlia
subtīliloquus
subtīliō
subtīlitās
subtīliter

Descendants

Aromanian: suptsãri, subtsãre
Catalan: sotil, subtil
Dutch: subtiel
English: subtle
French: subtil, subtile
Friulian: sutîl
Galician: sutil
German: subtil
Italian: sottile
Megleno-Romanian: subtzǫri
Old French: sotil, soutil
Occitan: sotil
Piedmontese: sutil
Polish: subtelny
Portuguese: subtil, sutil
Romanian: subțire
Sicilian: suttili
Old Spanish: sotil
- Spanish: sutil, subtil
Swedish: subtil
Venetian: sutìl, sutìlo, sotìl

References

“subtilis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“subtilis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
subtilis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
subtilis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
- sound knowledge; scholarship: doctrina exquisita, subtilis, elegans
- good taste; delicate perception: iudicium subtile, elegans, exquisitum, intellegens
- the plain style: verborum tenuitias, oratio subtilis