I.fineness, thinness, slenderness, minuteness (syn. tenuitas).
I. Lit. (mostly post-Aug.; “not in Cic.): linearum,” Plin. 35, 10, 36, § 82: “ferramentorum,” the keen edge, sharpness, id. 28, 9, 41, § 148: “inenarrabilis florum,” id. 21, 1, 1, § 1: “muliebris,” Vitr. 4, 1 med.: “immensa animalium,” Plin. 11, prooem. 1. § “1: caelandi fingendique ac tingendi,” id. 35, prooem. § 1:“ umoris,” id. 2, 65, 65, § 163. —
II. Trop.
A. In gen., keenness, acuteness, penetration, definiteness, exactness, subtlety, etc. (class.; “syn.: acumen, sollertia): sententiarum,” Cic. N. D. 2, 1, 1: “disputandi,” id. Tusc. 3, 23, 56: “ea subtilitas, quam Atticam appellant,” id. Brut. 17, 67: “subtilitas sermonis,” id. Rep. 1, 10, 16: “credunt plerique militaribus ingeniis subtilitatem deesse,” Tac. Agr. 9: “ingens,” Petr. 31: “tanta,” id. 38; Sen. Ep. 113, 1: “Aristoteles, vir immensae subtilitatis,” Plin. 18, 34, 77, § 335; cf.: “litterarum,” id. 2, 108, 112, § 247: “geometrica,” id. 2, 65, 65, § 164: “perversa grammaticorum,” id. 35, 3, 4, § 13: “subtilitas parcimoniae compendia invenit,” id. 17, 22, 35, § 171: “picturae summa suptilitas,” id. 35, 9, 36, § 67: “inutilis,” Sen. Ep. 65, 16: “quaedam inutilia et inefficacia ipsa subtilitas reddit,” id. ib. 82, 24: nimia, id. ib 88, 43.—
B. In partic., in rhet., plainness, simplicity, absence of ornament: “orationis subtilitas imitabilis quidem illa videtur esse existimanti, sed nihil est experienti minus,” Cic. Or. 23, 76; id. Brut. 84, 291: “suavitatem Isocrates, subtilitatem Lysias, vim Demosthenes habuit,” id. de Or. 3, 7, 28: “subtilitas et elegantia scriptorum,” id. Fam. 4, 4, 1.
