sotilte

Middle English

Alternative forms

• sotiltee, subtiltee, subtilte, subtyletee, soubtilite, sotylte, suttilte, sotyltee, subtilite, sotelte, sutteltee

Etymology

From Old French sutilté, from Latin subtīlitās; equivalent to sotil +‎ -te.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔtil(ə)ˈteː/, /sɔtəl(ə)ˈteː/, /sutəl(ə)ˈteː/

Noun

sotilte (plural sotiltes)

1. Mental power or ability; smartness or cleverness:
2. An instance of mental power or ability; a smart deed:
   1. An unfair argument that uses sophistry or subtlety.
   2. A mental exercise, trial or challenge; a test of one's mind.
   3. A strategy or solution; a hidden method or teaching.
3. Sophistication, complexness; the state of being incomprehensible.
4. Capability; ability in a specified domain or area.
5. Deceiving, insidiousness; the concealment of one's true behaviour or goals.
6. An act of deception, insidiousness or deceiving; a trick or ploy.
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Tale of the Chanons Yeman”, in The Canterbury Tales, Lichfield Cathedral MS. 029, leaf 175, back; republised and transcribed in Frederick J. Furnivall (editor), The Hengwrt MS of Chaucer's Canterbury tales, 1881, →OCLC, Part VI, Appendix 5, page 555, lines 839–845:

     Nay nay god woot / al be he monk of frere [/] Preest or chanon̄ / or eny other wight [/] Thougħ he sitte at his book/ [sic] boþe day and nyght [/] In learnyng of his eluissħ nyce lore [/] As is in veyne / and parde moche more [/] Is to lerne a lewed man / this sotilte [/] ffy spek not þer-of / for it wol not be

     No, no, God knows, whether he is a monk, a friar / A clergyman, a priest, or any other living being / Even if he sits at his studies day and night / Learning mysterious and pointless lore / It is all in vain, and worse than that! / To teach an uninitiated man this trick— / Ha! Don't think of it; it's impossible.

7. An ornamental meal made to resemble a famous event.
8. Narrowness or diminutiveness; lacking in dimensions.
9. The quality of being fluidic or lacking viscosity.

Descendants

• English: subtlety

References

• “sotiltẹ̄, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-17.