means The process by which a solid turns directly into a gas without passing through the liquid state (and, in psychology, the channeling of unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activity).

from From Latin 'sublimare,' to lift up or raise high, from 'sublimis' meaning lofty or exalted — the same root behind 'sublime.' Medieval alchemists borrowed the word for the moment a solid rose as vapor in their flasks, as if elevating matter toward the heavens; Freud later lifted the term again, this time to describe raising raw urges into refined pursuits.