- sublimation (n.)
- late 14c., in alchemy, "process of purifying by heating into a vapor," from Medieval Latin sublimationem (nominative sublimatio) "refinement," literally "a lifting up, deliverance," from Latin sublimare "to raise, elevate," from sublimis "lofty" (see sublime). Psychological sense is first recorded 1910, probably influenced by subliminal.