different between subtle vs slite

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

Alternative forms

• sleight, slight
• slyte (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English sliten, from Old English sl?tan (“to slit, tear, rend, shiver, split, rend to pieces, cleave, divide”), from Proto-West Germanic *sl?tan, from Proto-Germanic *sl?tan? (“to tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *skleyd-, *(s)kelH- (“to cut, trim”).

Cognate with North Frisian slitten (“to clear, make void”), Dutch slijten (“to wear, waste, ravel out”), German schleißen (“to trim”), Swedish slita (“to rip, tear”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sla?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t

Verb

slite (third-person singular simple present slites, present participle sliting, simple past slit or slote or slited, past participle slit or slitten or slited)

1. (transitive, dialectal) To slit; tear or rip up.
2. (transitive, dialectal) To wear away (clothes).

Noun

slite (uncountable)

1. (dialectal) The act or process of ripping up; rending; wear and tear.

Anagrams

• IELTS, Leist, Steil, e-list, islet, istle, liest, lites, stile, teils, tiles

Irish

Alternative forms

• slighte (obsolete)

Noun

slite f

1. plural of slí

Mutation

Further reading

• "slite" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Entries containing “slite” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “slite” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse slíta

Verb

slite (imperative slit, present tense sliter, passive slites, simple past slet or sleit, past participle slitt, present participle slitende)

1. to wear (ut / out)
2. to struggle (med / with)

Derived terms

• slitesterk
• nedslitt
• utslitt

References

• “slite” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

slite (present tense slit, past tense sleit, supine slite, past participle sliten, present participle slitande, imperative slit)

1. Alternative form of slita

Derived terms

• slitesterk

Adjective

slite

1. neuter singular of sliten