subtlesubtle

The story

The adjective is derived from Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil (‘of a person, the mind, etc.: clever, ingenious, penetrating; cunning, sly; insidious; delicate, fine; not dense, light, thin; finely powdered; narrow, slender; etc.’), borrowed from Anglo-Norman sotel, subtil, sutil, Middle French soutil, subtil, sutil, and Old French sotil, soutil, subtil, sutil (‘of an object: skilfully designed or made; delicate, fine; slender, thin; of an intangible thing: difficult to understand; of a person: discerning, shrewd; devious, sly; etc.’) (modern French subtil), from Latin subtīlis (‘of texture: delicate, fine; slender, thin; accurate, keen; having fine judgment; etc.’), from sub (‘below, under’) + tēla (‘warp (threads running lengthwise in a loom); web’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tetḱ- (‘to create, produce; to cut, hew’), from *teḱ- (‘to beget, sire’)). The word displaced Old English smēag (literally “creeping”). The modern and Middle English (and French) spellings with -b- are influenced by Latin subtīlis; the letter was probably never pronounced.