Sublime
Etymology
From Latin "sublimis" ("lofty, raised up"), possibly from "sub-" (up to) and "limen" (threshold). Enlightenment thinkers Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant made it a key aesthetic term in the 18th century, distinguishing the overwhelming sublime from the merely beautiful.
adjective · /suh-BLYME/
So vast, awe-inspiring, or overwhelming that it strains the limits of comprehension.
What it names
The mix of awe and near-terror before something immense — a storm, a mountain, deep time — that mere "beautiful" can’t hold.
Example
Standing at the canyon’s edge, she felt the sublime — beauty edged with a shiver of her own smallness.
Related idea
The beautiful pleases and reassures; the sublime overwhelms, mixing pleasure with a trace of dread.
verb · /suh-BLYME/
In chemistry, to pass directly from solid to gas (or the reverse) without ever becoming liquid.
What it names
dry ice turning straight to vapor; frost forming from water vapor
Example
Solid carbon dioxide sublimes at room temperature.
Related idea
Shares the Latin “sublimis” (lofty): here the substance rises as vapor, just as the awe-sense rises above ordinary experience.