Word: fine Part of Speech: adj 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 Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish fino). Doublet of fino. Pronunciation: /ˈfaɪ̯n/, /ˈfaːn/, /ˈfɑɪ̯n/ 1. Senses referring to subjective quality. Example: The tree frog that they encountered was truly a fine specimen. Example: Only a really fine wine could fully complement Lucía's hand-made pasta. 2. Senses referring to subjective quality. Labels: ironic Example: You're a fine one to talk about laziness. Example: Here's another fine mess you've gotten us into. 3. Senses referring to subjective quality. Labels: informal Example: How are you today? – Fine. Example: Will this one do? It's got a dent in it. – Yeah, it'll be fine, I guess. 4. Senses referring to subjective quality. Labels: informal Example: That man is so fine that I'd jump into his pants without a moment's hesitation. Example: It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers. 5. Senses referring to subjective quality. Example: In any case, Feinsilver’s nomenclatural suggestions and fine distinctions did not enjoy widespread adoption. 6. Senses referring to subjective quality. Labels: obsolete Example: 1853, Matthew Arnold, Preface to The Poems of Matthew Arnold They will permit the poet to select any action he pleases, and to suffer that action to go as it will, provided he gratifies them with occasional bursts of fine writing 7. Senses referring to subjective quality. Example: Thou haſt ſpoken all alreadie, vnleſſe thou canſt ſay they are married, but thou art too fine in thy euidence, therefore ſtand aſide. Example: The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! 8. Senses referring to subjective quality. Example: Do you want to talk about what happened? – [sharply, with annoyance or discomfort] I'm fine! 9. Senses referring to objective quality. Example: The small scratch meant that his copy of “X-Men #2” was merely fine when it otherwise would have been “near mint”. 10. Senses referring to objective quality. Example: If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough. 11. Senses referring to objective quality. Example: Grind it into a fine powder. Example: When she touched the artifact, it collapsed into a heap of fine dust. 12. Senses referring to objective quality. Example: The threads were so fine that you had to look through a magnifying glass to see them. Example: But as our urban lives have grown more pressed for time, we have diced our opportunity costs finer and finer; from budgeting days or slabs of hours, we have come to rationing minutes. 13. Senses referring to objective quality. Example: They protected themselves from the small parasites with a fine wire mesh. 14. Senses referring to objective quality. Example: Coins nine tenths fine. 15. Behind the batsman and at a small angle to the line between the wickets. Example: […]to nudge it through the covers (or tickle it down to fine leg) for a four[…] 16. Subtle; thin; tenuous. Labels: obsolete Example: The eye standeth in the finer medium and the object in the grosser.