different between subtil vs cunning

English

Adjective

subtil (comparative more subtil, superlative most subtil)

1. Obsolete form of subtle.; sly, artful, cunning
   • , Genesis 3:1

     Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

   • 1611, King James Version, Wisdom of Solomonn 7:22–23:

     For wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me: for in her is an understanding spirit holy, one only, manifold, subtil, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good quick, which cannot be letted, ready to do good, Kind to man, steadfast, sure, free from care, having all power, overseeing all things, and going through all understanding, pure, and most subtil, spirits.

References

• Webster, Noah (1828) , “subtil”, in An American Dictionary of the English Language

Anagrams

• builts, bultis

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /sup?til/

Adjective

subtil (masculine and feminine plural subtils)

1. subtle

Derived terms

• subtilesa
• subtilment

Danish

Etymology

From Latin subt?lis (“fine, thin”), from sub + t?la (“a web”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /subti?l/, [sub??t?i??l]

Adjective

subtil

1. subtle

Inflection

References

• “subtil” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Semi-learned term, modified from the inherited Old French sotil, soutil after the original etymology, Latin subt?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /syp.til/

Adjective

subtil (feminine singular subtile, masculine plural subtils, feminine plural subtiles)

1. subtle

Further reading

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

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin subt?lis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

subtil (comparative subtiler, superlative am subtilsten)

1. subtle

Declension

Related terms

• Subtilität

Further reading

• “subtil” in Duden online

Middle English

Adjective

subtil

1. Alternative form of sotil

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin subtilis

Adjective

subtil (masculine and feminine subtil, neuter subtilt, definite singular and plural subtile)

1. subtle

References

• “subtil” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “subtil” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin subtilis

Adjective

subtil (masculine and feminine subtil, neuter subtilt, definite singular and plural subtile)

1. subtle

References

• “subtil” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Adjective

subtil m or f (plural subtis, comparable) (European orthography)

1. Alternative form of sutil

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French subtil and Latin subt?lis. Doublet of sub?ire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sub?til/

Adjective

subtil m or n (feminine singular subtil?, masculine plural subtili, feminine and neuter plural subtile)

1. subtle

Declension

Related terms

Swedish

Adjective

subtil (comparative subtilare, superlative subtilast)

1. subtle

Declension

Related terms

• subtilitet

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?n??
• IPA^(key): /?k?n??/

Etymology 1

From Middle English cunning, kunning, konnyng, alteration of earlier Middle English cunninde, kunnende, cunnand, from Old English cunnende, present participle of cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”), equivalent to con +? -ing. Cognate with Scots cunnand (“cunning”), German könnend (“able to do”), Icelandic kunnandi (“cunning”). More at con, can.

Adjective

cunning (comparative more cunning, superlative most cunning)

1. Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.

   • They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere.

2. (obsolete) Skillful, artful.

   • Esau was a cunning hunter.

   • a cunning workman
3. (obsolete) Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.

   cunning work
4. (US, colloquial, dated, New England) Cute, appealing.

   a cunning little boy

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bartlett to this entry?)

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:wily

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English cunning, kunnyng, partially from Old English *cunning (verbal noun), from Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”); partially from Old English cunnung (“knowledge, trial, probation, experience, contact, carnal knowledge”), from cunnian (“to search into, try, test, seek for, explore, investigate, experience, have experience of, to make trial of, know”), equivalent to con +? -ing.

Noun

cunning (countable and uncountable, plural cunnings)

1. Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 236d.

     indeed at this very moment he's slipped away with the utmost cunning into a form that's most perplexing to investigate.

2. Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit; art or magic.
   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III scene ii^[1]:

     Caliban: As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island.

3. The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.
4. The natural wit or instincts of an animal.

   the cunning of the fox or hare

5. (obsolete) Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).

Synonyms

• craftiness
• foxship
• list

Translations