different between subtle vs intangible

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)

1. 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.

2. (of a thing) Cleverly contrived.
3. (of a person or animal) Cunning, skillful.

   Synonyms: crafty, cunning, skillful

4. Insidious.

   Synonyms: deceptive, malicious

   • 1623, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third, Act IV, scene 4:

     Thy age confirmed, proud, subtle, bloody, treacherous.

5. Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency.
6. (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

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French intangible, from Medieval Latin intangibilis, from Late Latin tangibilis, from Latin tango.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n?tand??bl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?n?tænd??b?l/

Adjective

intangible (comparative more intangible, superlative most intangible)

1. Incapable of being perceived by the senses; incorporeal.

Antonyms

• tangible

Translations

Noun

intangible (plural intangibles)

1. Anything intangible
2. (law) Incorporeal property that is saleable though not material, such as bank deposits, stocks, bonds, and promissory notes

Translations

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin intangibilis, from Late Latin tangibilis, from Latin tango.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /intan?xible/, [?n?.t?ã??xi.??le]

Adjective

intangible (plural intangibles)

1. intangible

Related terms

• tangible