Crossword Genius

Article in the main elevated tense European art lover? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aesthete

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'art lover?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'article in the main elevated tense european' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the 'definite article' part of speech).
'in the' indicates putting letters inside.
'main' becomes 'sea' ('sea' can be a synonym of 'main').
'elevated' says the letters should be written backwards.
'tense european' becomes 'te' (this might be a standard abbreviation which I don't know about).
'sea' written backwards gives 'aes'.
'aes'+'te'='aeste'
'the' going within 'aeste' is 'AESTHETE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aesthete that I've seen before include "One sensitive to art and beauty" , "Self-styled art lover - the tease (anag)" , "Person who appreciates the beautiful" , "One who professes great sensitivity to the beauty of art" , "Arty type" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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