THE ETYMOLOGY NERD
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Infographics
    • Interactive Map
  • Videos
  • MORE
    • Cartoons
    • Retail Reviews
    • Resources
    • About
    • Accomplishments

SUBLIMINALLY SUBLIME

12/15/2018

5 Comments

 
A friend asked me today whether the words sublime and subliminal are etymologically connected. Well, that's a very interesting question with a fascination answer. First, sublime. Through Middle English sublimen and Old French sublimer, it traces to Latin sublimere, meaning "to raise high" (you sort of guess from there how both the meanings of "phase transition from solid to gas" and "exalted" can and did stem from this; the "lofty" definition has been around longer, though). The root here is limen, which meant threshhold, and the prefix is sub-, which in this case meant "up to". Subliminal also sprang directly from this exact combination, but how? Turns out that sub- can mean both "up to" and "below", although we know it more as being "below" in the English language. So something sublime is "up to" the threshold of what is good, while something subliminal sneaks in below the threshold of conscious thought. Sub-, through Proto-Italic, comes from PIE upo, "under", and limen is from Latin limus, which meant "oblique" and is of unknown origin 
5 Comments
Milan Ristić
4/25/2020 08:47:48 pm

Thanks for the explanation, the question about the meaning of the prefix "sub-" in "sublime" has perplexed me for quite a while now. Is there any other word where it also means "up to" and not "under"?

Reply
Pedro
6/12/2020 06:48:13 pm

it seems to me that there is no consensus with the prefix "sub". It is definitely a designative element of inferiority, substitution, and approximation. I believe that the word sublime is intimately connected with the act of looking up. The translation of "sub" to "up to" seems convenient and not precise.

Reply
Ellen Lucks
10/23/2020 05:09:23 am

Substantial comes to mind...

Reply
Richard
9/3/2020 06:30:45 pm

Just to clarify, since I'm being a bit slow: by "up to", you mean "all the way up to", not "taking any value between zero and the maximum", as in "You can claim up to £500", meaning someone once claimed £500, but you'll probably get 4 pence. In "sublime", it's always the maximum. Yeah? I think.

Reply
L Viskey link
6/26/2021 09:11:00 am

i’m not an etymologist at any rate, but i believe the “basis” involved with subliminal, sublime & sublimate must be approached from simultaneous perception - the lower (self) mind’s analysis - plus the upper (empyrean) mind of “higher self”. We are all “god unto ourself” - but physical perception is always dualistic (“something must be either/or” to have definition in first place.

In the case of these words, they’ve been “designed” to include both the “omniscient perception” (of self) & the “organic perception” (of self). This allows the “up to” threshold to be crossed & integrated into such words.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    AUTHOR

    Picture
    Hello! I'm Adam Aleksic, a senior studying government and linguistics at Harvard University, where I co-founded the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society. In addition to etymology, I also really enjoy trivia, politics, vexillology, geography, board games, conlanging, art history, and law. 
      If I don't cover it soon, I probably already did it
    Submit
    CONFUSED?
      

    Archives

    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    TAGS

    All
    Interview
    Satire

Picture

A lexophile's sanctum

CONTACT: etymologynerd@gmail.com
TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • YOUTUBE • REDDIT • LINKEDIN • RSS
Home • Blog • Infographics • Retail Reviews • Cartoons • Clarifications • Resources • Accomplishments
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Infographics
    • Interactive Map
  • Videos
  • MORE
    • Cartoons
    • Retail Reviews
    • Resources
    • About
    • Accomplishments