subtile (or as sutl), subtil, sotel, sotil, sotile, subtill

[O. Fr. sotil, sotyl, subtil, from Lat. subtil is fine, thin, slender, precise, accurate, subtle, from sub =under, and tela (for texla )= a web; texo =to weave; O. Sp. & Port. subtil; Sp. sutil; Ital. sottile.] 1. Tenuous, thin; not dense or gro ; extremely fine. "Aloft the subtile sunbeams shine." Words worth: Evening Walk. 2. Delicately constructed or constituted; delicate, fine, nice. "More subtile web Arachne cannot spin." Spenser: F. Q., II. xii. 77. *3. Piercing, acute, sharp, penetrating. "Pa we the slow disease, and subtile pain Which our weak frame is destin'd to sustain." Prior: Solomon , iii. 136. *4. Characterized by acutene of mind or intellect; shrewd, sharp, discerning. *5. Sly, artful, cunning, crafty, deceitful, treacherous. "Think you this York Was not incensed by his subtile mother To taunt and scorn you?" Shakesp.: Richard III., iii. 1. In senses 4 and 5 now generally spelled subtle (q.v.). tile; -ly.] sub-tile-lý (or as sŭt'l-ly), adv. [Eng. sub1. In a subtile manner; finely; not densely or gro ly. "The opakest bodies, if subtilely divided, as metals dis solved in acid menstruums, become perfectly transpar ent."-Newton. 2. Cunningly, artfully, subtly. "His lord wel coude he plesen subtilly ." Chaucer: C. T. , 612. sŭb'-tile-ně (or as sŭt'l-ne ), s. [Eng.subtile; -ne .] 1. The quality or state of being subtile; thinne , finene , rarene . "I propose to treat of the erysipelas from cholerick blood, which affects only the outward parts, none of which escapes its tenuity and subtilene " - Wiseman: Surgery , bk. i., ch. vi. 2. Finene , acutene . 3. Cunning, artfulne , subtlety. *sub-til-1-āte, v . t . [Eng. subtil(e); -iate.] To make subtile, rare, or thin. "Matter, however subtil i a ted , is matter still."-Boyler Works , iii. 39. *sub-til-1-ā-tion, s. [Fr.) The act of subtil i at ing or making thin or rare. "By subtil i at i on and rarefaction the oil contained in grapes, if distilled before it be fermented, becomes spirit of wine."-Boyle: Works , iii. 39.