sublime, a. and n.
A. adj.
1. Set or raised aloft, high up. arch.
(a) in predicative use.
(b) In attrib. use; contextually = highest, top.
b. Of the arms: Uplifted, upraised.
c. Of flight; only in fig. context with implication of senses 4-7.
d. Anat. Of muscles: Lying near the surface, superficial. Also applied to the branch of anatomy treating of superficial muscles.
2. Of buildings, etc.: Rising to a great height, lofty, towering. arch.
3. Of lofty bearing or aspect; in a bad sense, haughty, proud. Chiefly poet.
b. Exalted in feeling, elated. Obs.
4. Of ideas, truths, subjects, etc.: Belonging to the highest regions of thought, reality, or human activity. Also occas. said of the thinker.
b. Of geometry: see quots. Obs.
5. Of persons, their attributes, feelings, actions: Standing high above others by reason of nobility or grandeur of nature or character; of high intellectual, moral, or spiritual level. Passing into a term of high commendation: Supreme, perfect.
b. colloq. with ironical force.
6. Of language, style, or a writer: Expressing lofty ideas in a grand and elevated manner.
7. Of things in nature and art: Affecting the mind with a sense of overwhelming grandeur or irresistible power; calculated to inspire awe, deep reverence, or lofty emotion, by reason of its beauty, vastness, or grandeur.
8. Of rank, status: Very high, exalted. arch.
b. As an honorific title of the Sultan of Turkey or other potentates; also transf. of their actions. Cf. Sublime Porte (see porte), and sublimity 2d.
c. Refined: more recently used in trade names to designate the finest quality.
9. Med. Of respiration: Of the highest degree.
B. n.
1. Now always with the: That which is sublime; the sublime part, character, property, or feature of. Formerly with a and pl. and occas. without article, chiefly in contexts where sublimity would now be used. a. in discourse or writing.
b. in nature and art.
c. in human conduct, life, feeling, etc.
2. With the: The highest degree or point, summit, or acme of. Now rare.
From the Oxford English Dictionary, 2d ed.