subtilis
καλῶς γέ μου τὸν υἱὸν ὦ Στιλβωνίδη εὑρὼν ἀπιόντ' ἀπὸ γυμνασίου λελουμένον οὐκ ἔκυσας, οὐ προσεῖπας, οὐ προσηγάγου, οὐκ ὠρχιπέδισας, ὢν ἐμοὶ πατρικὸς φίλος → Ah! Is this well done, Stilbonides? You met my son coming from the bath after the gymnasium and you neither spoke to him, nor kissed him, nor took him with you, nor ever once felt his balls. Would anyone call you an old friend of mine?
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.
