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sublime

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Sublime and sublimé

English

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WOTD – 25 October 2023

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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PIE word
*upó

Partly from the following:

Cognates

Verb

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sublime (third-person singular simple present sublimes, present participle subliming, simple past and past participle sublimed)

  1. (transitive)
    1. (chemistry) Synonym of sublimate.
      1. 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.
        • 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, Act II, scene v, signature [D3], recto:
          Sub[tle]. […] VVho are you?
          Ana[nias]. A faithfull Brother, if it pleaſe you.
          Sub. VVhat's that?
          A Lullianiſt? a Ripley? Filius artis?
          Can you ſublime, and dulcefie?
        • 1677, Nehemiah Grew, “[Several Lectures Read before the Royal Society.] Experiments in Consort of the Luctation Arising from the Affusion of Several Menstruums upon All Sorts of Bodies, Exhibited to the Royal Society, April 13. and June 1. 1676. Chapter II. What may be Observed of Minerals.”, in The Anatomy of Plants. […], [London]: […] W. Rawlins, for the author, published 1682, →OCLC, page 246:
          The aſhes either of Pit-Coal, or Sea-Coal, make no Efferveſcence vvith Alkalies or Acids. VVhence the ſaline Principle is altogether volatile, and ſublimed avvay by the fire.
      2. (archaic) To obtain or purify (a substance) in this manner.
    2. (by extension, figurative) To raise (someone or an intangible thing) to a state of (especially moral or spiritual) excellence; to exalt.
      Synonym: (archaic) sublimate
    3. (obsolete)
      1. To cause (someone or something) to ascend; to raise (someone or something) to a high position.
      2. To cause (juice or sap) to rise in a plant.
        • 1640, John Parkinson, “Camphora. Camfire.”, in Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, An Herball of a Large Extent: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, →OCLC, page 1575:
          [Camfire, i.e., camphor] ſeemeth plainely to be ſo made by art, being caſt as it vvere or ſublimed into broad round pans or diſhes and little above the thickneſſe of ones thumbe, […]
      3. Especially of the sun: to heat (something) and cause vapours, etc., to rise from it.
        • 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC, page 24:
          Some the French VVriters, ſome our ovvn deſpiſe;
          The Ancients only, or the Moderns prize:
          […]
          Meanly they ſeek the Bleſſing to confine,
          And force that Sun but on a Part to Shine;
          VVhich not alone the Southern VVit ſublimes,
          But ripens Spirits in cold Northern Climes; […]
        • 1871, Charles Kingsley, “Monos”, in At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies. […], volume I, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, pages 181–182:
          [O]n the swamps of the Caroni the malarious fog hung motionless in long straight lines, waiting for the first blaze of sunrise to sublime it and its invisible poisons into the upper air, where it would be swept off, harmless, by the trade-wind which rushed along half a mile above our heads.
      4. To purify (someone) from a bad influence or from sin.
      5. To raise (someone) to a high office or status; to dignify, to exalt.
        Synonym: sublimate
      6. To raise (a physical thing) to a state of excellence; to improve.
        Synonym: sublimate
        • 1653 (indicated as 1654), “The Real Presence and Spiritual of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, Proved against the Doctrine of Transubstantiation. Section V. Subject Continued [Of the Words of Institution].”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume IX, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, paragraph 10, page 476:
          [I]t [bread used for communion] is made 'sacramental and eucharistical,' and so it is sublimed to become the body of Christ. But it is natural food still, […]
        • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 482–484:
          [F]lours and thir fruit
          Mans nouriſhment, by gradual ſcale ſublim'd
          To vital Spirits aſpire, […]
        • 1740, Geo[rge] Cheyne, “Discourse I. Philosophical Conjectures about the Nature and Qualities of the Original Animal Body, and of Its Progressive State in Its Several Stages of Existence.”, in An Essay on Regimen. […], London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]; Bath, Somerset: J. Leake, […], →OCLC, § 27, page 36:
          [T]hat ſpiritual Subſtance vvas analogous to Matter infinitely rarefied, refin'd or ſublim'd: Then, in the Geometrical Manner of conſidering ſuch reſpective Qualities and their Subject, Body infinitely rarefied, refin'd and ſublim'd, vvould at laſt terminat in limited Space or Expanſion; […]
        • 1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto II, stanza CLXXX, page 209:
          Ring for your valet—bid him quickly bring
          Some hock and soda-water, then you'll know
          […]
          For not the blest sherbet, sublimed with snow,
          […]
          After long travel, ennui, love, or slaughter,
          Vie with that draught of hock and soda-water.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. (chemistry) Synonym of sublimate.
      1. Of a substance: to change from a solid into a gas without passing through the liquid state, with or without being heated.
        • 1883, J[ohn] U[ri] Lloyd, “Elixirs”, in Elixirs: Their History, Formulæ, and Methods of Preparation […] (Pharmaceutical Preparations), 2nd edition, Cincinnati, Oh.: Robert Clarke & Company, →OCLC, page 9:
          Then diſtil it, and you ſhall have a Philoſophical ☿ [mercury], and what Sublimeth is the Sulphur, which keep apart.
      2. Of a substance: to change from a gas into a solid without passing through the liquid state.
    2. (by extension, figurative) To become higher in quality or status; to improve.
Conjugation
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Conjugation of sublime
infinitive (to) sublime
present tense past tense
1st-person singular sublime sublimed
2nd-person singular sublime, sublimest† sublimed, sublimedst†
3rd-person singular sublimes, sublimeth† sublimed
plural sublime
subjunctive sublime