subtile

英 ['sʌbtəl] 美 ['sʌbtɪl]
  • adj. 微妙的;狡猾的;敏锐的;隐约的
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subtile (adj.)
late 14c., "clever, dexterous, crafty; not dense, thin, rarefied," from Old French subtil (14c.), a learned Latinized reformation of earlier sotil (12c.), source of subtle (q.v.). Still used in some Bible translations in Gen. iii:1, and it survived after 17c. as a parallel formation to subtle in some material senses ("fine, delicate, thin").