fine
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /faɪn/
rhymes: -aɪn
ipa: /fæːn/
Forms: form: fines
form: fining
form: fined
form: fined
Etymology: From Middle English fin, fyn, from Old French fin (“fine, minute, exact”), of obscure origin, but probably derived from Latin fīnīre (“to finish”) or fīnis (“boundary, limit, end”), with an abstract sense of fine or thin also arising in many Romance languages (compare Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian fino). Doublet of fino.
Senses: examples: to fine gold
1666 (written), 1681 (published), Thomas Hobbes, A Dialogue between a Philosopher and a Student of the Common Laws of England
It hath been fined and refined by […] learned men.
glosses: To make finer, purer, or cleaner; to purify or clarify.
glosses: To become finer, purer, or cleaner.
examples: text: The tools to be used for this surface tillage are those that comminute or fine the soil most completely without compacting it or leaving it in ridges or in furrows
ref: 1913, Liberty Hyde Bailey, The Practical Garden Book:
glosses: To make finer, or less coarse, as in bulk, texture, etc.
examples: text: to fine down a ship's lines, i.e. to diminish her lines gradually
text: I often sate at home
On evenings, watching how they fined themselves
With gradual conscience to a perfect night.
ref: 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “(please specify either |book=1 to 9 or the page)”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
glosses: To change by fine gradations.
glosses: To clarify (wine and beer) by filtration.
examples: text: I watched her [the ship] […] gradually fining down in the westward until I lost sight of her hull.
ref: 1882, William Clark Russell, My Watch Below:
glosses: To become gradually fine; to diminish; to dwindle (with away, down, or off).
Synonyms: sense: to make or become finer, purer, or cleaner
word: clarify
sense: to make or become finer, purer, or cleaner
word: refine
sense: to make or become finer, purer, or cleaner
word: purify
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: age like a fine wine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: age like fine wine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: as fine as Dick's hatband
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: chance'd be a fine thing
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: chance would be a fine thing
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: cut it fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: day fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: day-fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: down to a fine art
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: draw it fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: every good boy does fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: extrafine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine adjustment tool
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine and dandy
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine and dandy like sour candy
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine art
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine artist
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine arts
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine as frog hair
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine as frog's hair
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine bean
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine casual
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine chemical
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine count
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine cut
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine dining
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: finedraw
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: finedrawn
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-feathered friend
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine feathers make fine birds
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-grained
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine herbs
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fineish
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fineleaf
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine leg
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fineless
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine line
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-looking
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: finely
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine motor skill
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-needle aspiration
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fineness
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine ounce
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine penny
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine print
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: finer things
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine shyt
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: finesome
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-spoken
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-spun
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: finespun
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine structure
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-structure constant
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine structure constant
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine stuff
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-tooth comb
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine toothcomb
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-tooth comb test
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-toothed
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-toothed comb
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: finetop
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-tune
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine tune
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine-tuned universe
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine weather for ducks
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: fine words butter no parsnips
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: finify
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: freedom fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: hyperfine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: I'm fine, thank you
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: in fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: in fine feather
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: in fine fettle
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: ja well no fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: just fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: know fine well
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: microfine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: not to put too fine a point on it
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: not to put too fine a word on it
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: overfine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: play fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: post-fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: rifle is fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: sail fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: semifine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: superfine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: to a fine fare-thee-well
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: ultrafine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: unfine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: unit fine
sense: Terms derived from fine - etymology 1
word: you're fine
Related terms: sense: clarify by filtration
word: finings
word: final
word: finite