Etymograph

English

sublime

Sublime comes from Latin sublimō ‘to elevate, raise’, from līmen ‘threshold, doorstep, sill’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- ‘to bow, to bend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Heh₃l-‘to bow, to bend’root as named
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmen‘threshold, doorstep, sill’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublīmus‘eminent, exalted, elevated’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublimō‘to elevate, raise’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublīmārepresent active infinitive of sublimō
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sublimer
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sublimen
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1591sublime

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Heh₃l-‘to bow, to bend’root as named
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmen‘threshold, doorstep, sill’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublīmus‘eminent, exalted, elevated’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublimō‘to elevate, raise’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublīmārepresent active infinitive of sublimō
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sublimer
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sublimen
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1591sublime

Earliest quotation: 1591, Philip Sidney, [Sonnet 77]: “Thoſe vvords vvhich doe ſublime the quinteſſence of bliſſe,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- ‘to bow, to bend’

limit, ell, ulna, limes, 10 more

through Latin līmen ‘threshold, doorstep, sill’

preliminary, eliminate, elimination, liminal, 7 more

Another origin of sublime

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublīmis‘uplifted, high, lofty, exalted, sublime’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sublime‘admirable, excellent, perfect’
  3. Englishtodaysublime

The adjective is derived from Middle French sublime (‘admirable, excellent, perfect; placed in a high position; reaching a great height; of a person: of high office or rank’) (modern French sublime), and from its etymon Latin sublīmis, sublīmus (“elevated, raised; exalted, uplifted, sublime”, adjective): see etymology 1. The noun is derived from Middle French sublime (‘elevated style in writing; quality in art or nature inspiring awe, reverence, etc.’) (modern French sublime), from the adjective: see further above.

Today it means

verb 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.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- / sublime

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