I'm new to Wordsmith, so I hope this is the appropriate place to ask this question about today's word. There seems to be little difference in the meaning of "subtile" and "subtle." (Or is there something subtle that I'm missing?) Is subtile more archaic? Or just an alternate spelling?
huh. I always thought that subtile was an affected misspelling. the OED online has this curious note:
In the 1st Folio of Shakespeare the instances are about equally divided between the spellings subtle and subtil(e, -ill. In the first editions of Milton's poems the spelling suttle (with suttlety, suttly) is the only one, except in Paradise Regained, which has subtle (with subtilty).
so I guess along with suttle (and others), it's yet another variant.
How soon hath Time the suttle theef of youth,
Stoln on his wing my three and twentith yeer !
(Milton)
(23 and a few more..;~)
This is one of those words Nuncle was talking about in another thread. The B in subtle, which was there in the Latin, seems to have been dropped in the Old French and wasn't there when we got it from them in the days of Middle English. It was added back in when a bunch of busy-bodies decided that, since it was there in the Latin, we needed it in the English. The B in subtile appears never to have been lost in the Old French. There is a notable difference in meaning, subtile meaning 'thin, rarefied', but it does also have the same meaning as subtle, perhaps simply by confusion with subtle. They both come from the Latin subtīlis.
OED
The OED also lists about 30 variant spellings for [subtle over the history of English since we borrowed it from the French.
It was added back in when a bunch of busy-bodies decided that, since it was there in the Latin, we needed it in the English.
Which is funny, ya know, coz those peevers did not add back the i that was in the original.
It was added back in when a bunch of busy-bodies decided that, since it was there in the Latin, we needed it in the English.
Which is funny, ya know, coz those peevers did not add back the i that was in the original.
Even funnier is the
s they stuck in
island that was never there in the first place.
Even funnier is the s they stuck in island that was never there in the first place.
Oh, the list of funny goes on and on: e.g., the d in admiral is my favoritest.