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sublime

Etymology and origin of the English word sublime

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /səˈblaɪm/[1]

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Middle French sublime or directly from Latin sublīmis (“uplifted, high, lofty”),[2][3][4][5][6] perhaps originally “sloping up to the lintel”, from sub “up to” and līmen “lintel, threshold”.[3][4][6] The verb is inherited from Middle English sublimen, borrowed from Old French sublimer, from Medieval Latin sublīmāre (“to refine by sublimation”).[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a verb, in alchemy and chemistry, to convert a solid by heat into vapour that condenses again (c. 1386);[7][3][4] as an adjective, of language, lofty, noble (1586).[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective was used of style, expressing lofty ideas in an elevated manner (1580s),[4] then of ideas that strike the mind with grandeur or power (1630s), of exalted persons (1640s), and of things in nature or art (by 1700).[4] The noun the sublime dates from the 1670s,[4] and was later a key term in aesthetics for what inspires awe.[6][4] The verb took the figurative sense “to exalt, elevate” in 1609.[7][3] The weakened sense “complete, utter”, as in sublime ignorance, is also used.[5][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – verb, to sublimate (chemistry).[7][3]
  • 1586 – adjective, lofty, noble.[3]
  • 1609 – verb, to exalt.[7][3]
  • 1630s – of ideas, grand, awe-inspiring.[4]
  • 1670s – noun, the sublime.[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of great nobility, grandeur or majesty; inspiring awe.
  2. Of the highest spiritual, moral or intellectual worth; not to be excelled; supreme.
  3. Complete; utter, as in sublime indifference.
  4. (archaic) Raised aloft; also, haughty.

Noun

  1. (the sublime) That which is sublime; sublimity.
  2. The highest degree or ultimate example of something.

Verb

  1. To sublimate: to change from a solid to a vapour and back without melting.
  2. To make sublime; to exalt.

Word family

  • sublimely
  • sublimeness
  • sublimate
  • sublimation
  • Sublime Porte
  • sublimity
  • subliminal
  • lintel

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Sublime.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/sublime. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·