subtilty Meaning, Definition & Usage

Sub"til*ty noun

Etymology

Contr. fr. subtility.

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being subtile; thinness; fineness; as, the subtility of air or light.
2. Refinement; extreme acuteness; subtlety.

   Intelligible discourses are spoiled by too much subtility in nice divisions. Locke.

3. Cunning; skill; craft. Obs.

   To learn a lewd man this subtility. Chaucer.

4. Slyness in design; artifice; guile; a cunning design or artifice; a trick; subtlety.

   O full of all subtility and all mischief. Acts xiii. 10.

   ✍ In senses 2, 3, and 4 the word is more commonly written subtlety.