different between cunning vs subtile
cunning
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -?n??
- IPA(key): /?k?n??/
Etymology 1
From Middle English cunning, kunning, konnyng, alteration of earlier Middle English cunninde, kunnende, cunnand, from Old English cunnende, present participle of cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”), equivalent to con +? -ing. Cognate with Scots cunnand (“cunning”), German könnend (“able to do”), Icelandic kunnandi (“cunning”). More at con, can.
Adjective
cunning (comparative more cunning, superlative most cunning)
- Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.
- They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere.
- (obsolete) Skillful, artful.
- Esau was a cunning hunter.
- a cunning workman
- (obsolete) Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.
- cunning work
- (US, colloquial, dated, New England) Cute, appealing.
- a cunning little boy
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Bartlett to this entry?)
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:wily
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English cunning, kunnyng, partially from Old English *cunning (verbal noun), from Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”); partially from Old English cunnung (“knowledge, trial, probation, experience, contact, carnal knowledge”), from cunnian (“to search into, try, test, seek for, explore, investigate, experience, have experience of, to make trial of, know”), equivalent to con +? -ing.
Noun
cunning (countable and uncountable, plural cunnings)
- Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
- 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 236d.
- indeed at this very moment he's slipped away with the utmost cunning into a form that's most perplexing to investigate.
- 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 236d.
- Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit; art or magic.
- c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III scene ii[1]:
- Caliban: As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island.
- c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III scene ii[1]:
- The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.
- The natural wit or instincts of an animal.
- the cunning of the fox or hare
- (obsolete) Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).
Synonyms
- craftiness
- foxship
- list
Translations
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subtile
English
Etymology
From Latin subtilis (“fine, thin, slender, delicate”), perhaps, from sub (“under”) + tela (“a web, fabric”). See tela, toil.
Adjective
subtile (comparative subtiler, superlative subtilest)
- (obsolete) subtle
- 1819, Francis Bacon, The Works of Francis Bacon, volume 2, page 2:
- And sometimes this perception, in some kind of bodies, is far more subtile than the sense; so that the sense is but a dull thing in comparison of it: we see a weather-glass will find the least difference of the weather, in heat, or cold, when men find it not.
- 1889, Henry James, The Solution.
- I burst into mirth at this—I liked him even better when he was subtile than when he was simple.
- 1819, Francis Bacon, The Works of Francis Bacon, volume 2, page 2:
Derived terms
- subtile body
Further reading
- subtile in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- subtile in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
French
Adjective
subtile
- feminine singular of subtil
German
Adjective
subtile
- inflection of subtil:
- strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
- strong nominative/accusative plural
- weak nominative all-gender singular
- weak accusative feminine/neuter singular
Latin
Adjective
subt?le
- nominative neuter singular of subt?lis
- accusative neuter singular of subt?lis
- vocative neuter singular of subt?lis
References
- subtile in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
Middle English
Adjective
subtile
- Alternative form of sotil
Noun
subtile
- Alternative form of sotil
Norwegian Bokmål
Adjective
subtile
- definite singular/plural of subtil
Norwegian Nynorsk
Adjective
subtile
- definite singular/plural of subtil
Swedish
Adjective
subtile
- absolute definite natural masculine form of subtil.
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