SUBLIMITY

sublimity

(noun) nobility in thought or feeling or style

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

sublimity (countable and uncountable, plural sublimities)

(uncountable) The state of being sublime.

(countable) Something sublime.

Source: Wiktionary


Sub*lim"i*ty, n.; pl. Sublimities. Etym: [L. sublimitas: cf. F. sublimité.]

1. The quality or state of being sublime (in any sense of the adjective).

2. That which is sublime; as, the sublimities of nature.

Syn.

– Grandeur; magnificence.

– Sublimity, Grandeur. The mental state indicated by these two words is the same, namely, a mingled emotion of astonishment and awe. In speaking of the quality which produces this emotion, we call it grandeur when it springs from what is vast in space, power, etc.; we call it sublimity when it springs from what is elevated far above the ordinary incidents of humanity. An immense plain is grand. The heavens are not only grand, but sublime (as the predominating emotion), from their immense height. Exalted intellect, and especially exalted virtue under severe trials, give us the sense of moral sublimity, as in the case of our Savior in his prayer for his murderers. We do not speak of Satan, when standing by the fiery gulf, with his "unconquerable will and study of revenge," as a sublime object; but there is a melancholy grandeur thrown around him, as of an "archangel ruined."

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

29 May 2024

PERESTROIKA

(noun) an economic policy adopted in the former Soviet Union; intended to increase automation and labor efficiency but it led eventually to the end of central planning in the Russian economy


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