sublime
Meanings
- Synonym of sublimate.
- To heat (a substance) in a container so as to convert it into a gas which then condenses in solid form on cooler parts of the container; (generally) to change (a solid substance) into a gas without breaking down or passing through the liquid state by heating it gently.
- To obtain or purify (a substance) in this manner.
- To raise (someone or an intangible thing) to a state of (especially moral or spiritual) excellence; to exalt.
- To cause (someone or something) to ascend; to raise (someone or something) to a high position.
- To cause (juice or sap) to rise in a plant.
- Especially of the sun: to heat (something) and cause vapours, etc., to rise from it.
- To purify (someone) from a bad influence or from sin.
- To raise (someone) to a high office or status; to dignify, to exalt.
- To raise (a physical thing) to a state of excellence; to improve.
- Of a substance: to change from a solid into a gas without passing through the liquid state, with or without being heated.
- Of a substance: to change from a gas into a solid without passing through the liquid state.
- High, tall, towering; also, positioned in a high place; high-up, lofty.
- Of an aspect of art or nature: causing awe or deep respect due to its beauty or magnificence; awe-inspiring, impressive.
- Of flight: ascending, soaring.
- Of an idea or other thing: requiring great intellectual effort to appreciate or understand; very elevated, refined, or subtle.
- Of language, style, or writing: expressing opinions in a grand way.
- Of a person or their actions or qualities: intellectually, morally, or spiritually superior.
- Of an office or status: very high; exalted; also, used as an honorific (often capitalized as Sublime) to refer to someone of high office or status, especially the Ottoman sultan; or to things associated with such a person.
- Of a thing: consummate, perfect; (informal, loosely) excellent, marvellous, wonderful.
- Of a person: dignified, majestic, noble.
- Of a person: haughty, proud.
- Complete, downright, utter.
- Elevated by joy; elated.
- Something which is sublime; a sublimity.
- In the form the sublime of: the highest degree; the acme, the height.
- Chiefly preceded by the.
- An aspect of art or nature which causes awe or deep respect due to its beauty or magnificence; hence, the great beauty or magnificence of a place, a thing, etc.
- A style of language or writing which expresses opinions in a grand way.
- That which is intellectually, morally, or spiritually superior in human life or human nature.
- The quality or state of being sublime; sublimeness, sublimity.
- An unincorporated community in Lavaca County, Texas, United States.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
PIE word *upó Partly from the following: * From Middle English sublimen, sublime, sublyme (“to exalt, extol, glorify, honour; (alchemy) to refine (a substance) by vaporizing in a closed container; to obtain (a substance) by cooling vapour obtained through sublimation; to extract (a pure substance) from a mixture by sublimation; to sublimate (a substance)”), from Middle French sublimer, Old French sublimer (“to exalt, glorify, honour; to refine (a substance) by vaporizing in a closed container; of a substance: to undergo sublimation”) (modern French sublimer), and from its etymon Latin sublīmāre, the present active infinitive of sublimō (“to elevate, raise; to soar”) (compare Late Latin sublimō (“to elevate, raise; to exalt, glorify, honour; to sublimate, vaporize”)), from sublīmis (“elevated, raised; exalted, uplifted, sublime; elevated in style”) (from sub- (prefix meaning ‘under; up to’) + possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- (“to bend”) (whence Latin līmen (“threshold”) and līmus (“askew; sideways”))) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). * From sublime (adjective). Cognates * Catalan sublimar * Italian sublimare * Old Occitan sublimar * Portuguese sublimar * Spanish sublimar