Other forms: subtleties
A subtlety is a fine distinction that is easily missed. Miss the subtlety, with great subtlety, the subtlety of it.
As an uncountable noun it means the quality of being fine and understated: handled with subtlety. As a countable one it names a particular fine point. Losing the subtleties is what happens in translation and in summary. Note the spelling and the pronunciation, which drop the b in subtle but keep it in the spelling; and that the Latin means finely woven.
1nounsubtletyA fine distinction that is easily missed.
“The subtlety of the joke was lost on the younger children.”
subtlety is a fine distinction.
Latin subtilitas comes from subtilis, fine or thin, literally under the warp — sub plus tela, a web. The image is of thread finely woven.
Latin
subtīlitās
Old French
sutilté
Middle English
sotilte
English, today
subtlety
Built from
From Middle English sotilte, from Old French sutilté, inherited from Latin subtīlitās, from subtīlis (“subtle”). Equivalent to subtle + ty. a doublet of subtility.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA