I.fine, not thick or coarse, thin, slender, minute (syn. tenuis).
I. Lit. (mostly poet. and in postAug. prose; “not in Cic.): quae vulgo volitant subtili praedita filo,” Lucr. 4, 88: “ventus subtili corpore tenuis,” id. 4, 901; cf. id. 3, 195; Cat. 54, 3: “acies gladii,” Sen. Ep. 76, 14: “farina,” Plin. 18, 7, 14, § 74: “mitra,” Cat. 64, 63: “ignis,” Lucr. 6, 225: “subtilia et minuta primordia rerum,” id. 4, 122; 4, 114.— Subst.: subtīlĭa , ĭum, n. plur., fine goods or stuffs, Vulg. Isa. 19, 9: “indui te subtilibus,” id. Ezech. 16, 10.—Comp.: “harundo,” Plin. 16, 36, 66, § 168: “semen raporum,” id. 18, 13, 34, § 129.—Sup.: “sucus subtilissimus,” Plin. 11, 5, 4, § 11.—
B. Transf., of the senses, fine, nice, acute, delicate, exqui site (rare): “palatum,” Hor. S. 2, 8, 38: “subtilior gula,” Col. 8, 16, 4.—
II. Trop., fine, nice, precise, exact, accurate, keen, subtle (class.; syn.: elegans, concinnus).
A. In gen.: “sollers subtilisque descriptio,” Cic. N. D. 2, 47, 121: “definitio,” id. de Or. 1, 23, 109: “observatio,” Plin. 18, 13, 35, § 132: “sententia,” id. 18, 17, 46, § 165: “argumentatio,” id. 2, 108, 112, § 247: “quaestio,” id. 11, 16, 16, § 46: “Graecia,” Manil. 4, 718.—Comp.: “reliquae (epistulae) subtiliores erunt,” more particular, Cic. Att. 5, 14, 3.—Sup.: “quae (curatio manus) inter subtilissimas haberi potest,” Cels. 7, 7, 13: “inventum,” Plin. 31, 3, 23, § 40: “Democritus, subtilissimus antiquorum,” Sen. Q. N. 7, 3, 2.—
2. Transf., of taste or judgment, fine, keen, delicate, exquisite (syn.: “sagax, acutus): judicium,” Cic. Fam. 15, 6, 1; Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 242; cf.: “subtilis veterum judex,” id. S. 2, 7, 101: “sapiens subtilisque lector,” Plin. Ep. 4, 14, 7: “vir subtilis, dispositus, acer, disertus,” id. ib. 2, 11, 17; 4, 17, 4.—
B. In partic., in rhet., of speech or of the speaker, plain, simple, unadorned (syn. simplex): “genus dicendi,” Cic. Or. 21, 69; cf.: “acutissimum et subtilissimum dicendi genus,” id. de Or. 2, 23, 98: “oratio,” id. Or. 5, 20; cf. id. ib. 23, 78: “Stoicorum non ignoras, quam sit subtile vel spinosum potius dicendi genus,” id. Fin. 3, 1, 3: subtile quod ἰσχνὸν vocant, Quint. 12, 10, 58: “disputator,” Cic. Off. 1, 1, 3: “quis illo (Catone) in docendo edisserendoque subtilior?” id. Brut. 17, 65: “oratione limatus atque subtilis,” id. de Or. 1, 39, 180; cf. id. de Or. 3, 8, 31: Lysias subtilis scriptor atque elegans, id. Brut. 9, 35; Quint. 10, 1, 78: “praeceptor,” id. 1, 4, 25; 12, 10, 51.—Hence, adv.: subtīlĭter , finely, minutely.
1. Lit.: “subtiliter insinuatus ad parvas partes aër,” Lucr. 6, 1031: “conexae res,” closely, intimately, id. 3, 739: “dividere aliquid,” Plin. 5, 12, 13, § 67: “fodere,” lightly, superficially, Pall. Febr. 21 fin.—
2. Trop., finely, acutely, minutely, accurately, subtly.
a. In gen.: “subtiliter judicare,” finely, acutely, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 57, § 127: “de re publicā quid ego tibi subtiliter? tota periit,” minutely, particularly, id. Att. 2, 21, 1; cf.: “haec ad te scribam alias subtilius,” id. ib. 1, 13, 4: “subtiliter exsequi numerum,” Liv. 3, 5: “de aliquā re subtiliter disserere,” Cic. Fl. 17, 41: “aliquid persequi,” id. de Or. 1, 21, 98; cf.: “id persequar subtilius,” id. Rep. 2, 23, 42: “subtilius haec disserunt,” id. Lael. 5, 18: “subtilius ista quaerunt,” id. ib. 2, 7 et saep. —
b. In partic., in rhet., plainly, simply, without ornament: “humilia subtiliter et magna graviter et mediocria temperate dicere,” Cic. Or. 29, 100: “versute et subtiliter dicere,” id. ib. 7, 22: “privatas causas agere subtilius: capitis aut famae ornatius,” id. Fam. 9, 21, 1: “magnifice an subtiliter dicere,” Quint. 8, 3, 40.