n., pl. -ties.
- The quality or state of being subtle.
- Something subtle, especially a nicety of thought or a fine distinction.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
subtlety
Quick Definition: perceptiveness; ingenuity; delicacy; ADJ. subtle: delicate; so slight as to be difficult to detect; able to make fine distinctions; clever; Ex. subtle mind/differences in meaning
n., pl. -ties.
Mentioned In
n., pl. -ties.
subtlety
n
n
Definition: astuteness
Antonyms: dullness, slow-wittedness
n
Definition: ingenuity
Antonyms: crudeness
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun subtlety has 2 meanings:
Meaning #1: a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude
Synonyms: nuance, nicety, shade, refinement
Meaning #2: the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze
Synonym: niceness
subtlety
A subtlety (or soteltie) is a Western European medieval dish, usually served after or between main courses, decorated in some fashion or disguised as other types of food. In medieval English cuisine, subtelties were used as a way to demark one main course from another. An example from the coronation feast of Henry IV was of a highly decorated dish made of pastries, jelly, almond paste and sugar. This was followed by yet another course, another subtlety and a third course. In medieval cookery there was no tradition that stated any particular course should be viewed as an appetizer. These could include up to a dozen separate dishes with foods that today would be viewed as typical main courses such as roasted meats, fowl, pies and heavy side dishes, such as rice.
References
- Keple, Kenneth F. Ornelas, Kriemhild Cone (2000) The Cambridge World History of Food: Volume 2 ISBN 0-521-40215-8
External links
Look up subtlety in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- How to Cook Medieval - A modern guide on how to make Western European medieval cuisine and subtleties
- Forum for discussion on recreation of subtleties
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Translations for: Subtlety
Dansk (Danish)
n. - spidsfindighed, finhed, underfundighed, listighed, skarpsindighed
Nederlands (Dutch)
subtiliteit, raffinement, pikant detail
Franais (French)
n. - complexit, subtilit, dlicatesse, caractre nuanc
Deutsch (German)
n. - Zartheit, Feinheit, Raffiniertheit, Subtilitt
ή (Greek)
n. - ό, ύ, ί, έ, ί
Italiano (Italian)
astuzia, sottigliezza
Portugus (Portuguese)
n. - sutileza (f)
Русский (Russian)
тонкость, острота, искусность, утонченность, тонкое различие, хитрость
Espaol (Spanish)
n. - astucia, picarda, sutileza, fineza
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - subtilitet, hrfinhet, spetsfyndighet, skrpa, ordklyveri, finess, nyansrikedom, frslagenhet, knep, tunn
中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
稀薄, 精明, 微妙
中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 稀薄, 精明, 微妙
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 예민, 민감, 교활함
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 微妙, 機微, 鋭敏
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) رقه , لطف , دقه
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - עדינות, דקות, חריפות, שנינות, מורכבות, הבחנה דקה
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Mentioned In subtlety is mentioned in the following topics:
