different between finesse vs sleight

English

Etymology

From Middle English f?nesse (“degree of excellence; (of metal) fineness, purity”), from Middle French finesse, Old French finesse (“fineness; delicacy; slenderness”), from fine, fin (“fine, thin”) (from Latin f?nis (“end”); compare Middle English f?n (“of superior quality; precious, valuable; admirable, pleasing; pure, refined; fineness, purity; delicate, exquisite, fine; sharp, thin”)) + -esse (suffix forming nouns describing the condition of being something).

The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??n?s/, /f?-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??n?s/, /f?-/
• Hyphenation: fin?esse

Noun

finesse (countable and uncountable, plural finesses)

1. (uncountable) Skill in the handling or manipulation of a situation. [from c. 1520]

   Synonym: finessing
2. (uncountable) The property of having elegance, grace, refinement, or skill. [from mid 16th c.]
3. (countable) An adroit manoeuvre. [from mid 16th c.]
4. (countable, card games) In bridge, whist, etc.: a technique which allows one to win a trick, usually by playing a card when it is thought that a card that can beat it is held by another player whose turn is over. [from early 18th c.]

Translations

Verb

finesse (third-person singular simple present finesses, present participle finessing, simple past and past participle finessed)

1. (transitive, chiefly Canada, US, politics) To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or strategem.
   • 2018, John C. Hull, Options, Futures and Other Derivatives (10th ed.), Pearson (2018), p. 276

     Almost miraculously, [risk-neutral valuation] finesses the problem that we know hardly anything about the risk aversion of the buyers and sellers of options.

2. (transitive, card games) To play (a card) as a finesse. [from mid 18th c.]
3. (transitive, intransitive) To handle or manage carefully or skilfully; to manipulate in a crafty way. [from mid 18th c.]

   Synonym: (slang) zhoosh
4. (intransitive, card games) To attempt to win a trick by finessing. [from mid 18th c.]
5. (intransitive, croquet, obsolete) To play a ball out of the way of an opponent.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• finesse (card games) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• finesse (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

From fin +? -esse

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi.n?s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Noun

finesse f (plural finesses)

1. fineness (of hair, writing etc.)
2. thinness
3. keenness, sharpness (of blade)
4. fineness, delicacy; slenderness
5. perceptiveness; sensitivity, finesse

Further reading

• “finesse” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

From Middle English sleight, sleght, sleythe, from Old Norse slœgð (“cunning”), from Proto-Germanic *sl?giþ?, from *sl?giz (“cunning”) (whence English sly). Doublet of slöjd/sloyd.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sla?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t
• Homophones: slight

Noun

sleight (countable and uncountable, plural sleights)

1. Cunning; craft; artful practice.
2. An artful trick; sly artifice; a feat so dexterous that the manner of performance escapes observation.
3. Dexterous practice; dexterity; skill.

Related terms

• sleight of hand
• sleightly
• sleighty

Translations

Anagrams

• Leights

Middle English

Etymology 1

Adjective

sleight

1. Alternative form of slight

Etymology 2

From Old Norse slœgð, from Proto-Germanic *sl?giþ?; equivalent to sly +? -th.

Alternative forms

• sleght, sleythe, sle?þe, sliþe, sleighte, scleighte, sleiht, sleþþe, sleyþe, slight, sle?t, slei?t, sly?t, sleigþe, sleygt, sleyt, sleiþe, sleyhte, slithe, sli?þe, slyghte, scli?t, sleihte, sleyght, sleyghte, slet, sley?te, sleyte, sli?t

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slixt/, /sl?i?xt/, /sl?i?ð/

Noun

sleight (plural sleightes)

1. Wit, shrewdness, judiciousness; the state of being wise.
2. Adeptness, expertise; knowledge in a certain area.
3. Tactics, plans, preparation; the act of readying.
4. A tactic, approach, method, or accomplishment.
5. Work, labour, might; that which is expended on a task.
6. Detail; the finer or more intricate points of something.
7. Cunning, sleight; craft; artful practice.
8. An artful or deceiving trick; a sly artifice.
9. (rare) Something of extreme attractiveness.

Derived terms

• sleighty
• sleightly

Descendants

• English: sleight
• Scots: slicht

References

• “sleight, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-06-05.

Adjective

sleight

1. Judicious, considered, shrewd; having or indicative of great wisdom.
2. Sly, artful, wily; employing or being an example of deception.

References

• “sleight, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-06-05.

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English slight, from Old English sliht.

Adjective

sleight

1. slight

References

• Jacob Poole (1867) , William Barnes, editor, A glossary, with some pieces of verse, of the old dialect of the English colony in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, J. Russell Smith, ?ISBN