subtilis

Latin > English (Lewis & Short)

subtīlis: e, adj. sub-tela; and therefore, prop., woven fine; hence,
I fine, not thick or coarse, thin, slender, minute (syn. tenuis).
I Lit. (mostly poet. and in postAug. prose; not in Cic.): quae vulgo volitant subtili praedita filo, Lucr. 4, 88: ventus subtili corpore tenuis, id. 4, 901; cf. id. 3, 195; Cat. 54, 3: acies gladii, Sen. Ep. 76, 14: farina, Plin. 18, 7, 14, § 74: mitra, Cat. 64, 63: ignis, Lucr. 6, 225: subtilia et minuta primordia rerum, id. 4, 122; 4, 114.— Subst.: subtīlĭa, ĭum, n. plur., fine goods or stuffs, Vulg. Isa. 19, 9: indui te subtilibus, id. Ezech. 16, 10.—Comp.: harundo, Plin. 16, 36, 66, § 168: semen raporum, id. 18, 13, 34, § 129.—Sup.: sucus subtilissimus, Plin. 11, 5, 4, § 11.—
   B Transf., of the senses, fine, nice, acute, delicate, exqui site (rare): palatum, Hor. S. 2, 8, 38: subtilior gula, Col. 8, 16, 4.—
II Trop., fine, nice, precise, exact, accurate, keen, subtle (class.; syn.: elegans, concinnus).
   A In gen.: sollers subtilisque descriptio, Cic. N. D. 2, 47, 121: definitio, id. de Or. 1, 23, 109: observatio, Plin. 18, 13, 35, § 132: sententia, id. 18, 17, 46, § 165: argumentatio, id. 2, 108, 112, § 247: quaestio, id. 11, 16, 16, § 46: Graecia, Manil. 4, 718.—Comp.: reliquae (epistulae) subtiliores erunt, more particular, Cic. Att. 5, 14, 3.—Sup.: quae (curatio manus) inter subtilissimas haberi potest, Cels. 7, 7, 13: inventum, Plin. 31, 3, 23, § 40: Democritus, subtilissimus antiquorum, Sen. Q. N. 7, 3, 2.—
   2    Transf., of taste or judgment, fine, keen, delicate, exquisite (syn.: sagax, acutus): judicium, Cic. Fam. 15, 6, 1; Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 242; cf.: subtilis veterum judex, id. S. 2, 7, 101: sapiens subtilisque lector, Plin. Ep. 4, 14, 7: vir subtilis, dispositus, acer, disertus, id. ib. 2, 11, 17; 4, 17, 4.—
   B In partic., in rhet., of speech or of the speaker, plain, simple, unadorned (syn. simplex): genus dicendi, Cic. Or. 21, 69; cf.: acutissimum et subtilissimum dicendi genus, id. de Or. 2, 23, 98: oratio, id. Or. 5, 20; cf. id. ib. 23, 78: Stoicorum non ignoras, quam sit subtile vel spinosum potius dicendi genus, id. Fin. 3, 1, 3: subtile quod ἰσχνὸν vocant, Quint. 12, 10, 58: disputator, Cic. Off. 1, 1, 3: quis illo (Catone) in docendo edisserendoque subtilior? id. Brut. 17, 65: oratione limatus atque subtilis, id. de Or. 1, 39, 180; cf. id. de Or. 3, 8, 31: Lysias subtilis scriptor atque elegans, id. Brut. 9, 35; Quint. 10, 1, 78: praeceptor, id. 1, 4, 25; 12, 10, 51.—Hence, adv.: subtīlĭter, finely, minutely.
   1    Lit.: subtiliter insinuatus ad parvas partes aër, Lucr. 6, 1031: conexae res, closely, intimately, id. 3, 739: dividere aliquid, Plin. 5, 12, 13, § 67: fodere, lightly, superficially, Pall. Febr. 21 fin.—
   2    Trop., finely, acutely, minutely, accurately, subtly.
   a In gen.: subtiliter judicare, finely, acutely, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 57, § 127: de re publicā quid ego tibi subtiliter? tota periit, minutely, particularly, id. Att. 2, 21, 1; cf.: haec ad te scribam alias subtilius, id. ib. 1, 13, 4: subtiliter exsequi numerum, Liv. 3, 5: de aliquā re subtiliter disserere, Cic. Fl. 17, 41: aliquid persequi, id. de Or. 1, 21, 98; cf.: id persequar subtilius, id. Rep. 2, 23, 42: subtilius haec disserunt, id. Lael. 5, 18: subtilius ista quaerunt, id. ib. 2, 7 et saep. —
   b In partic., in rhet., plainly, simply, without ornament: humilia subtiliter et magna graviter et mediocria temperate dicere, Cic. Or. 29, 100: versute et subtiliter dicere, id. ib. 7, 22: privatas causas agere subtilius: capitis aut famae ornatius, id. Fam. 9, 21, 1: magnifice an subtiliter dicere, Quint. 8, 3, 40.

Latin > French (Gaffiot 2016)

subtīlis,¹¹ e (tela),
1 fin, délié, menu, subtil : subtile filum Lucr. 4, 88, fil délié ; subtili corpore Lucr. 4, 901, d’une matière déliée ; subtilis acies gladii Sen. Ep. 76, 14, tranchant bien affilé d’une épée ; ignis subtilis Lucr. 6, 225, feu subtil
2 [fig.] a) fin, délicat : [en parl. du palais] Hor. S. 2, 8, 38 ; [du goût, du jugement] Cic. Fam. 15, 6, 1 ; Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 242 ; S. 2, 7, 101 ; Plin. Min. Ep. 4, 14, 7 ; b) fin, pénétrant, d’une précision stricte : sollers subtilisque discriptio partium Cic. Nat. 2, 121, adroite et sagace distribution des parties du corps ; subtilis definitio Cic. de Or. 1, 109, définition stricte ; subtiliores epistulæ Cic. Att. 5, 14, 3, lettres plus minutieuses ; c) [en parl. du style] simple, sans apprêt : oratio Cic. Or. 78, style simple, sobre ; Lysias, subtilis scriptor atque elegans Cic. Br. 35, Lysias, écrivain sobre et châtié || subtilissimus Cic. de Or. 2, 98.

Latin > German (Georges)

subtīlis, e (aus *sub-texlis untergewebt, feingewebt, zu tēla), I) fein, dünn, zart, 1) eig. (Ggstz. crassus, spissus, verb. crassus spissusque), filum, Lucr. u. Auson.: bestis (= vestis), Edict. Diocl.: mitra, Catull.: corpus, Lucr. u. Sen.: ignis, Lucr.: farina, Plin.: vestis subtilior, Solin.: capillus flavus et solito subtilior, Vulg.: semen subtilius, Plin.: sucus subtilissimus, Plin.: poet., Graecia, zart, schlank, Manil. – 2) übtr.: a) im allg., fein, genau, akkurat, gründlich, descriptio, akkurat, genau, Cic.: venustas, fein, geschmackvoll, Cic.: sententia, ein feiner, vortrefflicher Gedanke, Plin.: epistulae subtiliores, genauer, ausführlicher, Cic.: inventum subtilissimum, Plin.: curationes subtilissimae, Cels. – b) insbes., v. Ausdruck – gefallend durch genaue Bestimmtheit und schmucklose Einfachheit, schlicht, einfach schön, einfach, oratio, Cic.: dicendi genus, Cic.: subtile, quod ἰσχνόν vocant, Quint. – v. Rednern u. Schriftstellern, subtilis oratione, Cic. (vgl. subtilis deductā oratione Menelaus, Auson.): Lysias subtilis atque elegans, Quint.: Lysias egregie subtilis scriptor atque elegans, Cic.: praeceptor, Quint. – II) von den Sinneswerkzeugen = feinfühlend, -schmeckend, 1) eig.: palatum, Hor.: subtilior gula, Colum. – 2) übtr., vom ästhetischen Geschmack u. Urteil = feinfühlend, fein unterscheidend, fein, iudicium, Cic. u. Hor.: veterum iudex, Hor.: sapiens subtilisque lector, Plin. ep.: sagax et admodum subtilis ingenio, ein gar feiner Kopf, Eutr.: Democritus subtilissimus omnium, der feinste Forscher, Sen. – / Vulg. Schreibung soubtilis, Edict. Diocl. 7, 48.

Latin > English

subtilis subtile, subtilior -or -us, subtilissimus -a -um ADJ :: fine-spun, fine; slender, delicate, exact; minutely thorough; strict, literal