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sublime

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: sublimé

English

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WOTD – 25 October 2023

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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PIE word
*upó

Partly from the following:

cognates

Verb

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sublime (third-person singular simple present sublimes, present participle subliming, simple past and past participle sublimed)

  1. (transitive)
    1. (chemistry) Synonym of sublimate
      1. To heat (a substance) in a container so as to convert it into a gas which then condenses in solid form on cooler parts of the container; (generally) to change (a solid substance) into a gas without breaking down or passing through the liquid state by heating it gently.
        • 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, →OCLC, Act II, scene v, signature [D3], recto:
          Sub[tle]. […] VVho are you?
          Ana[nias]. A faithfull Brother, if it pleaſe you.
          Sub. VVhat's that?
          A Lullianiſt? a Ripley? Filius artis?
          Can you ſublime, and dulcefie?
        • 1677, Nehemiah Grew, “[Several Lectures Read before the Royal Society.] Experiments in Consort of the Luctation Arising from the Affusion of Several Menstruums upon All Sorts of Bodies, Exhibited to the Royal Society, April 13. and June 1. 1676. Chapter II. What may be Observed of Minerals.”, in The Anatomy of Plants. […], [London]: […] W. Rawlins, for the author, published 1682, →OCLC, page 246:
          The aſhes either of Pit-Coal, or Sea-Coal, make no Efferveſcence vvith Alkalies or Acids. VVhence the ſaline Principle is altogether volatile, and ſublimed avvay by the fire.
      2. (archaic) To obtain or purify (a substance) in this manner.
    2. (by extension, figurative) To raise (someone or an intangible thing) to a state of (especially moral or spiritual) excellence; to exalt.
      Synonym: (archaic) sublimate
    3. (obsolete)
      1. To cause (someone or something) to ascend; to raise (someone or something) to a high position.
      2. To cause (juice or sap) to rise in a plant.
        • 1640, John Parkinson, “Camphora. Camfire.”, in Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, An Herball of a Large Extent: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, →OCLC, page 1575:
          [Camfire, i.e., camphor] ſeemeth plainely to be ſo made by art, being caſt as it vvere or ſublimed into broad round pans or diſhes and little above the thickneſſe of ones thumbe, […]
      3. Especially of the sun: to heat (something) and cause vapours, etc., to rise from it.
        • 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC, page 24:
          Some the French VVriters, ſome our ovvn deſpiſe;
          The Ancients only, or the Moderns prize:
          […]
          Meanly they ſeek the Bleſſing to confine,
          And force that Sun but on a Part to Shine;
          VVhich not alone the Southern VVit ſublimes,
          But ripens Spirits in cold Northern Climes; […]
        • 1871, Charles Kingsley, “Monos”, in At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies. […], volume I, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, pages 181–182:
          [O]n the swamps of the Caroni the malarious fog hung motionless in long straight lines, waiting for the first blaze of sunrise to sublime it and its invisible poisons into the upper air, where it would be swept off, harmless, by the trade-wind which rushed along half a mile above our heads.
      4. To purify (someone) from a bad influence or from sin.
      5. To raise (someone) to a high office or status; to dignify, to exalt.
        Synonym: sublimate
      6. To raise (a physical thing) to a state of excellence; to improve.
        Synonym: sublimate
        • 1653 (indicated as 1654), Jeremy Taylor, “The Real Presence and Spiritual of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, Proved against the Doctrine of Transubstantiation. Section V. Subject Continued [Of the Words of Institution].”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume IX, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, paragraph 10, page 476:
          [I]t [bread used for communion] is made 'sacramental and eucharistical,' and so it is sublimed to become the body of Christ. But it is natural food still, […]
        • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 482–484:
          [F]lours and thir fruit
          Mans nouriſhment, by gradual ſcale ſublim'd
          To vital Spirits aſpire, […]
        • 1740, Geo[rge] Cheyne, “Discourse I. Philosophical Conjectures about the Nature and Qualities of the Original Animal Body, and of Its Progressive State in Its Several Stages of Existence.”, in An Essay on Regimen. […], London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]; Bath, Somerset: J. Leake, […], →OCLC, § 27, page 36:
          [T]hat ſpiritual Subſtance vvas analogous to Matter infinitely rarefied, refin'd or ſublim'd: Then, in the Geometrical Manner of conſidering ſuch reſpective Qualities and their Subject, Body infinitely rarefied, refin'd and ſublim'd, vvould at laſt terminat in limited Space or Expanſion; […]
        • 1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto II, stanza CLXXX, page 209:
          Ring for your valet—bid him quickly bring
          Some hock and soda-water, then you'll know
          […]
          For not the blest sherbet, sublimed with snow,
          […]
          After long travel, ennui, love, or slaughter,
          Vie with that draught of hock and soda-water.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. (chemistry) Synonym of sublimate
      1. Of a substance: to change from a solid into a gas without passing through the liquid state, with or without being heated.
        • 1883, J[ohn] U[ri] Lloyd, “Elixirs”, in Elixirs: Their History, Formulæ, and Methods of Preparation […] (Pharmaceutical Preparations), 2nd edition, Cincinnati, Oh.: Robert Clarke & Company, →OCLC, page 9:
          Then diſtil it, and you ſhall have a Philoſophical ☿ [mercury], and what Sublimeth is the Sulphur, which keep apart.
      2. Of a substance: to change from a gas into a solid without passing through the liquid state.
    2. (by extension, figurative) To become higher in quality or status; to improve.
Conjugation
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Conjugation of sublime
infinitive (to) sublime
present tense past tense
1st-person singular sublime sublimed
2nd-person singular sublime, sublimest† sublimed, sublimedst†
3rd-person singular sublimes, sublimeth† sublimed
plural sublime
subjunctive sublime sublimed
imperative sublime —
participles subliming sublimed

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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The adjective is derived from Middle French sublime (“admirable, excellent, perfect; placed in a high position; reaching a great height; of a person: of high office or rank”) (modern French sublime), and from its etymon Latin sublīmis, sublīmus (“elevated, raised; exalted, uplifted, sublime”, adjective): see etymology 1.[3]

The noun is derived from Middle French sublime (“elevated style in writing; quality in art or nature inspiring awe, reverence, etc.”) (modern French sublime), from the adjective: see further above.[3]

cognates

Adjective

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sublime (comparative sublimer, superlative sublimest)

  1. (chiefly poetic, archaic or obsolete) High, tall, towering; also, positioned in a high place; high-up, lofty.
    • 1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 384, lines 740–741 and 747–750:
      The Heroe, looking on the left, eſpy'd
      A lofty Tovv'r, and ſtrong on ev'ry ſide
      […]
      Vain is the force of Man, and Heav'ns as van,
      To cruſh the Pillars vvhich the Pile ſuſtain.
      Sublime on theſe a Tovv'r of Steel is rear'd;
      And dire Tiſiphone these keeps the VVard.
  2. (figurative)
    1. Of an aspect of art or nature: causing awe or deep respect due to its beauty or magnificence; awe-inspiring, impressive.
      sublime scenery
      • 1897, John Munro, chapter VI, in A Trip to Venus:
        We had entered the clouds. For half-an-hour we were muffled in a cold, damp mist, and total darkness, and had begun to think of going indoors when, all at once, the car burst into the pure and starlit region of the upper air. A cry of joyous admiration escaped from us all. The spectacle before us was indeed sublime.
    2. Of flight: ascending, soaring.
    3. Of an idea or other thing: requiring great intellectual effort to appreciate or understand; very elevated, refined, or subtle.
    4. Of language, style, or writing: expressing opinions in a grand way.
    5. Of a person or their actions or qualities: intellectually, morally, or spiritually superior.
      a sublime deed
      • 1838 October, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Light of Stars”, in Voices of the Night, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1839, →OCLC, page 13:
        Know how sublime a thing it is,
        To suffer and be strong.
      • 1851 (date written), Matthew Bridges, “Song of the Seraphs [Crown Him with Many Crowns]”, in The Passion of Jesus, a Collection of Original Pieces Corresponding with the Five Sorrowful Mysteries in the Rosary of Our Blessed Lady, London, Dublin: Richardson and Son, […], published 1852, →OCLC, stanza 5, page 64:
        Crown Him the Lord of Years!
        The Potentate of Time,—
        Creator of the rolling spheres,
        Ineffably sublime!
      • 1991, Douglas Coupland, “Adventure without Risk is Disneyland”, in Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 159:
        You know, when I first met you, Claire, I thought that here might finally be a chance for me to be a class-act for once. To develop something sublime about myself. Well fuck sublime, Claire. I don't want dainty little moments of insight. I want everything and I want it now.
    6. Of an office or status: very high; exalted; also, used as an honorific (often capitalized as Sublime) to refer to someone of high office or status, especially the Ottoman sultan; or to things associated with such a person.
      the Sublime Porte
    7. Of a thing: consummate, perfect; (informal, loosely) excellent, marvellous, wonderful.
      • 1709, Mat[thew] Prior, “To Dr. [William] Sherlock, on His Practical Discourse Concerning Death”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 37:
        Thy even Thoughts vvith ſo much Plainneſs flovv,
        Their Senſe untutor'd Infancy may knovv;
        Yet to ſuch height is all that Plainneſs vvrought,
        VVit may admire, and letter'd Pride be taught:
        Eaſie in VVords thy Style, in Senſe ſublime,
        On its bleſt Steps each Age and Sex may riſe,
        'Tis like the Ladder in the Patriarch's Dream,
        Its foot on Earth, its height beyond the Skies.
      • 1993, Richard Klein, “Cigarettes are Sublime”, in Cigarettes are Sublime, Durham, N.C., London: Duke University Press, →ISBN, pages 62–63:
        Cigarettes are poison and they taste bad; they are not exactly beautiful, they are exactly sublime. The difference, to use the terms in which [Immanuel] Kant makes the distinction, means that smoking cigarettes gives rise to forms of aesthetic pleasure painfully at odds with the affect arising from the contemplation in tranquillity, say, of a well-wrought urn.
    8. (chiefly poetic, archaic) Of a person: dignified, majestic, noble.
      • 1842, Thomas De Quincey, “Cicero”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine:
        the sublime Julian leader
    9. (chiefly poetic, archaic) Of a person: haughty, proud.
    10. (informal) Complete, downright, utter.
      Synonyms: absolute, out-and-out
      He is behaving like a sublime idiot.
  3. (obsolete)
    1. (figurative)
      1. Elevated by joy; elated.
      2. Of a substance: purified, refined; hence, of the highest quality.
    2. (poetic, postpositive) Of arms: lifted up, raised.
    3. (anatomy) Of a muscle (especially the flexor digitorum superficialis muscle of the forearm which lies above the flexor digitorum profundus muscle): positioned above another muscle; superficial.
      Antonym: profound
    4. (pathology) Of breathing: very laboured.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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sublime (countable and uncountable, plural sublimes)

  1. (countable, archaic)
    1. Something which is sublime; a sublimity.
      • 1678 March 31 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Tho[mas] Shadwell, A True Widow. A Comedy, […], London: […] Benjamin Tooke, […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act I, page 6:
        Car[los]. VVhat is your opinion of the Play?
        Yo[ung] Mag[got]. […] There are a great many ſublimes that are very Poetical.
      • 1687, G[ilbert] Burnet, “A Defence of the Reflections on the Ninth Book of the First Volum of Mr. Varillas’s History of Heresies. Being a Reply to His Answer.”, in Reflections on Mr. Varillas’s History of the Revolutions that have Happened in Europe in Matters of Religion. […], Amsterdam: […] J. S., →OCLC, page 8:
        [S]ince there are tvvo ſorts of Sublimes, the one of Nonſence, and the other of Eloquence, I vvill not take upon me to judge to vvhich of theſe this belongs.
      • 1727, William Warburton, “Part II”, in A Critical and Philosophical Enquiry into the Causes of Prodigies and Miracles, as Related by Historians. […], London: […] Thomas Corbett, […], →OCLC, pages 78–79:
        Novv, vvhat a fine Opportunity vvas here of introducing his Story, in all the Blaze and Terror of anxious and diſordered Nature? VVith vvhat a Sublime might that Flaſh of Lightning have been brought in, to grace the approaching Ruin, […]
    2. In the form the sublime of: the highest degree; the acme, the height.
      • 1817 (date written), [Lord Byron], “Stanza LXX”, in Beppo, a Venetian Story, London: John Murray, […], published 1818, →OCLC, page 36:
        No solemn, antique gentleman of rhyme,
        Who having angled all his life for fame,
        And getting but a nibble at a time,
        Still fussily keeps fishing on, the same
        Small "Triton of the minnows," the sublime
        Of mediocrity, the furious tame, […]
  2. (uncountable) Chiefly preceded by the.
    1. An aspect of art or nature which causes awe or deep respect due to its beauty or magnificence; hence, the great beauty or magnificence of a place, a thing, etc.
    2. A style of language or writing which expresses opinions in a grand way.
      • 1850, Alfred Tennyson, “Part IV”, in The Princess: A Medley, 3rd edition, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 100:
        And, after, feigning pique at what she call'd
        The raillery, or grotesque, or false sublime—
        Like one that wishes at a dance to change
        The music—clapt her hands and cried for war,
        Or some grand fight to kill and make an end: […]
    3. That which is intellectually, morally, or spiritually superior in human life or human nature.
  3. (uncountable, archaic) The quality or state of being sublime; sublimeness, sublimity.
Translations
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References

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  1. ^ “sublīmen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “sublime, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2023; “sublime, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 “sublime, adj. and n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2023; “sublime, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Danish

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Adjective

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sublime

  1. definite of sublim
  2. plural of sublim

French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French sublime, borrowed from Latin sublimis.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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sublime (plural sublimes)

  1. sublime, extraordinary

Derived terms

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Verb

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sublime

  1. inflection of sublimer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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sublime

  1. inflection of sublim:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin sublimis.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /suˈbli.me/
  • Rhymes: -ime
  • Hyphenation: su‧blì‧me

Adjective

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sublime (plural sublimi)

  1. sublime

Derived terms

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Latin

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Adjective

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sublīme

  1. vocative masculine singular of sublīmus

References

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  • “sublime”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “sublime”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • sublime in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • (ambiguous) to fly aloft; to be carried into the sky: sublimem or sublime (not in sublime or sublimiter) ferri, abire

Middle French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin sublīmus.

Adjective

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sublime m or f (plural sublimes)

  1. sublime (noble, majestic, magnificent, etc.)

Descendants

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  • French: sublime

Portuguese

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Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: su‧bli‧me

Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Latin sublīmis.

Adjective

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sublime m or f (plural sublimes)

  1. sublime

Noun

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sublime m or f by sense (plural sublimes)

  1. sublime

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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sublime

  1. inflection of sublimar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /suˈblime/ [suˈβ̞li.me]
  • Rhymes: -ime
  • Syllabification: su‧bli‧me

Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Latin sublimis.

Adjective

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sublime m or f (masculine and feminine plural sublimes)

  1. sublime
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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sublime

  1. inflection of sublimar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

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