subtilize
VerbOpen English WordNet
Verb (3)subtilized, subtilizing
- mark fine distinctions and subtleties, as among wordsMore general discriminate, know apart
- make more subtle or refinedSynonyms: rarefysublimateMore general change, alter
- make (senses) more keenSynonyms: subtiliseMore general sharpen, heighten
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Sub′til·ize transitive verb [past tense & past participle Subtilized; present participle & verbal noun Subtilizing.]
Origin: L. subtiliser.
1. To make thin or fine; to make less gross or coarse.
2. To refine; to spin into niceties; as, to subtilize arguments.
Nor as yet have we subtilized ourselves into savages.— Edmund Burke
Sub′til·ize intransitive verb
To refine in argument; to make very nice distinctions. Joseph Milner
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54