Etymograph

English

sublimate

Sublimate comes from Latin sublīmātus ‘raised, elevated’, and goes back to līmen ‘threshold, doorstep, sill’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmen1‘threshold, doorstep, sill’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublīmus1‘eminent, exalted, elevated’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublimō2as sublīmāre, past participle‘to raise, elevate’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublīmātus2‘raised, elevated’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sublymate2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1667sublimate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sublimo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sublimate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […]: “The precepts of Christianity are […] so apt […]…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmenWiktionary, Latin sublimo‘threshold, doorstep, sill’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublīmusWiktionary, Latin sublimo‘eminent, exalted, elevated’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublimōWiktionary, English sublimateas sublīmāre, past participle‘to raise, elevate’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsublīmātusWiktionary, English sublimate‘raised, elevated’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sublymateWiktionary, English sublimate
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1667sublimateWiktionary, English sublimate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […]: “The precepts of Christianity are […] so apt […]…”

Linked words

through Latin līmen ‘threshold, doorstep, sill’

preliminary, eliminate, elimination, liminal, 7 more

Today it means

verb To change (a solid substance) into a gas without breaking down or passing through the liquid state by heating it gently.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sublimate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sublimo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin līmen / sublimate

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