different between indefinite vs subtle
indefinite
English
Etymology
From Late Latin ind?f?n?tus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?n?d?f?n?t/
- Hyphenation: in?def?i?nite
Adjective
indefinite (comparative more indefinite, superlative most indefinite)
- Without limit; forever, or until further notice; not definite.
- Vague or unclear.
- Undecided or uncertain.
- (mathematics) Being an integral without specified limits.
- (linguistics) Designating an unspecified or unidentified person or thing or group of persons or things
- the indefinite article
Synonyms
- (without limit): unlimited, unrestricted
- (vague or unclear): hazy; see also Thesaurus:indistinct or Thesaurus:vague
- (undecided or uncertain): indeterminate, unsettled, indecisive, unsure
- (an integral without specified limits):
- (designating an unspecified thing):
Derived terms
- indefinitely
- indefinite article
- indefiniteness
- indef
Related terms
- indeterminate
Translations
Noun
indefinite (plural indefinites)
- (grammar) A word or phrase that designates an unspecified or unidentified person or thing or group of persons or things.
Italian
Adjective
indefinite f pl
- feminine plural of indefinito
Latin
Adjective
ind?f?n?te
- vocative masculine singular of ind?f?n?tus
References
- indefinite in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- indefinite in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
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subtle
English
Alternative forms
- subtil, subtile, suttle (all obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil, borrowed from Old French soutil, subtil, from Latin subt?lis (“fine, thin, slender, delicate”); probably, originally, “woven fine”, and from sub (“under”) + tela (“a web”), from texere (“to weave”). Displaced native Old English sm?ag.
Pronunciation
- enPR: s?t'(?)l, IPA(key): /?s?t(?)l/, [?s????]
- Rhymes: -?t?l
Adjective
subtle (comparative subtler or more subtle, superlative subtlest or most subtle)
- Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood; barely noticeable.
- Antonym: simple
- 1712, Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem. Demonstrating the Existence and Providence of a God. In Seven Books, book I, London: Printed for S. Buckley, at the Dolphin in Little-Britain; and J[acob] Tonson, at Shakespear's Head over-against Catherine-Street in the Strand, OCLC 731619916; 5th edition, Dublin: Printed by S. Powell, for G. Risk, G. Ewing, and W. Smith, in Dame's-street, 1727, OCLC 728300884, page 7:
- The mighty Magnet from the Center darts / This ?trong, tho' ?ubtile Force, thro' all the Parts: / Its active Rays ejaculated thence, / Irradiate all the wide Circumference.
- (of a thing) Cleverly contrived.
- (of a person or animal) Cunning, skillful.
- Synonyms: crafty, cunning, skillful
- Insidious.
- Synonyms: deceptive, malicious
- 1623, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third, Act IV, scene 4:
- Thy age confirmed, proud, subtle, bloody, treacherous.
- Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency.
- (obsolete) Refined; exquisite.
Derived terms
Translations
References
- subtle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- subtle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “subtle”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN
Anagrams
- bluest, bluets, bustle, butles, sublet
subtle From the web:
- what subtle means
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