Word: sublime Part of Speech: verb Etymology: PIE word *upó Partly from the following: * From Middle English sublimen, sublime, sublyme (“to exalt, extol, glorify, honour; (alchemy) to refine (a substance) by vaporizing in a closed container; to obtain (a substance) by cooling vapour obtained through sublimation; to extract (a pure substance) from a mixture by sublimation; to sublimate (a substance)”), from Middle French sublimer, Old French sublimer (“to exalt, glorify, honour; to refine (a substance) by vaporizing in a closed container; of a substance: to undergo sublimation”) (modern French sublimer), and from its etymon Latin sublīmāre, the present active infinitive of sublimō (“to elevate, raise; to soar”) (compare Late Latin sublimō (“to elevate, raise; to exalt, glorify, honour; to sublimate, vaporize”)), from sublīmis (“elevated, raised; exalted, uplifted, sublime; elevated in style”) (from sub- (prefix meaning ‘under; up to’) + possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- (“to bend”) (whence Latin līmen (“threshold”) and līmus (“askew; sideways”))) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). * From sublime (adjective). Cognates * Catalan sublimar * Italian sublimare * Old Occitan sublimar * Portuguese sublimar * Spanish sublimar Pronunciation: /səˈblaɪm/ 1. Synonym of sublimate. Labels: transitive Example: 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? Example: 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. Synonym of sublimate. Labels: archaic, transitive Example: [I]t [niter, or sodium carbonate] Calcineth, Sublimeth and Diſſolveth Minerals and Metals. 3. To raise (someone or an intangible thing) to a state of (especially moral or spiritual) excellence; to exalt. Labels: broadly, figuratively, transitive Example: Thoſe vvords vvhich doe ſublime the quinteſſence of bliſſe, […] Example: Miſtris Medulla, the Sunne of honour ſhine upon your hopes, till it ſublime you to a Ladiſhip: I vvill attend you preſently. 4. To cause (someone or something) to ascend; to raise (someone or something) to a high position. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: I am ſublim'd! groſſe earth Supports me not. I vvalk on ayr! Example: But thou (dear Vine) forbid'ſt me to be long, Although thy Trunk be neither large, nor ſtrong, Nor can thy Head (not helpt) it ſelf ſublime, Yet like a Serpent, a tall Tree can climb, […] 5. To cause (juice or sap) to rise in a plant. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: [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, […] 6. Especially of the sun: to heat (something) and cause vapours, etc., to rise from it. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: 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; […] Example: [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. 7. To purify (someone) from a bad influence or from sin. Labels: obsolete, transitive 8. To raise (someone) to a high office or status; to dignify, to exalt. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: Thou Vermine, haue I tane thee, out of dung, […] Sublim'd thee, and exalted thee, and fix'd thee I'the third region, the high ſtate of grace? 9. To raise (a physical thing) to a state of excellence; to improve. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: [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, […] Example: [F]lours and thir fruit Mans nouriſhment, by gradual ſcale ſublim'd To vital Spirits aſpire, […] 10. Synonym of sublimate. Labels: intransitive Example: Then diſtil it, and you ſhall have a Philoſophical ☿ [mercury], and what Sublimeth is the Sulphur, which keep apart. 11. Synonym of sublimate. Labels: intransitive 12. To become higher in quality or status; to improve. Labels: broadly, figuratively, intransitive