subtilize

American  

[suht-l-ahyz, suhb-tuh-lahyz] / ˈsʌt lˌaɪz, ˈsʌb təˌlaɪz /

especially British, subtilise

verb (used with object)

subtilized, subtilizing

1. to elevate in character; sublimate.

2. to make (the mind, senses, etc.) keen or discerning; sharpen.

3. to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

4. to make thin, rare, or more fluid or volatile; refine.

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verb (used without object)

subtilized, subtilizing

1. to make subtle distinctions or to argue subtly.

subtilize British  

/ ˈsʌtɪˌlaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to bring to a purer state; refine

2. to debate subtly

3. (tr) to make (the mind, etc) keener

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Other Word Forms

• subtilization noun
• subtilizer noun
• supersubtilized adjective

Etymology

Origin of subtilize

1585–95; < Medieval Latin subtīlizāre, equivalent to subtīl ( is ) subtle + -izāre -ize

Example Sentences

To play with important truths, to disturb the repose of established tenets, to subtilize objections, and elude proof, is too often the sport of youthful vanity, of which maturer experience commonly repents.

From The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 06 Reviews, Political Tracts, and Lives of Eminent Persons by Johnson, Samuel

However abstractly they speculate and subtilize, there is always an undigested bone of man-god, god-man, and vicarious atonement in the theological stomach.

From Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Being a Comparison of the Old and New Testament Myths and Miracles with those of the Heathen Nations of Antiquity Considering also their Origin and Meaning by Doane, T. W.

Almost suffocating under the oppression of repressed feelings, using art only to repeat and rehearse for himself his own internal tragedy, after having wearied emotion, he began to subtilize it.

From Life of Chopin by Cook, Martha Elizabeth Duncan Walker

By long brooding over our recollections, we subtilize them into something akin to imaginary stuff, and hardly capable of being distinguished from it.

From The Blithedale Romance by Hawthorne, Nathaniel