sublime English · revision 924

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /səˈblaɪm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is [[bor|frm|sublime]] or directly [[der|la|sublīmis|t=uplifted, high, lofty]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) perhaps originally “sloping up to the lintel”, from ''sub'' “up to” and ''līmen'' “lintel, threshold”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The verb is [[inh|enm|sublimen]], [[bor|fro|sublimer]], [[der|la-med|sublīmāre|t=to refine by sublimation]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a verb, in alchemy and chemistry, to convert a solid by heat into vapour that condenses again (c. 1386);^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) as an adjective, of language, lofty, noble (1586).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective was used of style, expressing lofty ideas in an elevated manner (1580s),^(Etymonline) 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).^(Etymonline) The noun ''the sublime'' dates from the 1670s,^(Etymonline) and was later a key term in aesthetics for what inspires awe.^(RHWU)^(Etymonline) The verb took the figurative sense “to exalt, elevate” in 1609.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) The weakened sense “complete, utter”, as in ''sublime ignorance'', is also used.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1386 – verb, to sublimate (chemistry).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1586 – adjective, lofty, noble.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1609 – verb, to exalt.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1630s – of ideas, grand, awe-inspiring.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1670s – noun, the sublime.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of great nobility, grandeur or majesty; inspiring [[awe]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of the highest spiritual, moral or intellectual worth; not to be excelled; supreme.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Complete; utter, as in ''sublime indifference''.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Raised aloft; also, haughty.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(the sublime)'' That which is sublime; [[sublimity]].^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The highest degree or ultimate example of something.^(AHD)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[sublimate]]: to change from a solid to a vapour and back without melting.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To make sublime; to exalt.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sublimely]]

+ * [[sublimeness]]

+ * [[sublimate]]

+ * [[sublimation]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Sublime Porte]]

+ * [[sublimity]]

+ * [[subliminal]]

+ * [[lintel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}