Fine | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Fine, a.

adjective

a. [compar. FINER; superl. FINEST.] [Prov. & M. H. Ger. fin, N. H. Ger. fein, D. fijn, Dan. fin, Sw. fin, Fr. & Pr. fin, Sp. & Pg. fino, It. fino, fine, abbreviated from Lat. finitus, finished, i. e., completed, accomplished, perfect, p. p. of finire, to finish. See FINAL.]

Sense 1. Finished; brought to perfection; refined; — hence, excellent; superior; elegant; worthy of admiration; beautiful; showy.

The grief is fine, full, perfect, that I taste. Shak.

Not only the finest gentleman of his time, but one of the finest scholars. Felton.

Sense 2. Aiming at show or effect; loaded with ornament; over-dressed or over-decked, in a bad sense.

He gratified them with occasional... fine writing. M. Arnold.

Sense 3. Nice; delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; in a bad sense, sly; fraudulent.

The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Pope.

The nicest and most delicate touches of satire consist in fine raillery. Dryden.

Sense 4. Not coarse, gross, or heavy; as, (a.) Not gross; subtle; thin; tenuous.

The eye standeth in the finer medium and the object in the grosser. Bacon.

(b.) Not coarse; comminuted; in small particles; as, fine sand or flour. (c.) Not thick or heavy; slender; filmy; as, a fine thread. (d.) Thin; attenuate; keen; as, a fine edge. (e.) Made of fine materials; light; delicate; as, fine linen or silk.

Fine arts, or polite arts, originally, all those arts in which the powers of imitation or invention are exerted chiefly with a view to the production of pleasure by their immediate impression on the mind, as poetry, music, &c.; of late restricted to painting, sculpture, engraving, and architecture, which influence us through the eye, and sometimes even to the first two of these arts. Hazlitt.

Synonyms— FINE, BEAUTIFUL. When used as a word of praise, fine (being opposed to coarse) denotes no “ordinary thing of its kind.” It is not as strong as beautiful, in reference to the single attribute implied in the latter term; but when we speak of a fine woman, we embrace a greater variety of particulars, viz., all the qualities which become a woman, — breeding, sentiment, tact, &c. The term is equally comprehensive when we speak of a fine garden, landscape, horse, poem, &c.; and, though applied to a great variety of objects, the word has still a very definite sense, denoting a high degree of characteristic excellence, though not the very highest. Americans are considered by the English as overdoing in the use of this word.

Fine, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. FINED; p. pr. & vb. n. FINING. See FINE.]

Sense 1. To make fine; to refine; to purify; to clarify. “The fining of wines.” Evelyn. “The furnaces where gold is fined.” Holland.

It hath been fined and refined by ... grave and learned men. Hobbes.

Sense 2. To decorate; to adorn. [Obs.]

To fine his title with some show of truth. Shak.

Sense 3. To make less coarse; as, to fine grass. [Obs.]

Mortimer.

Sense 4. To cause to change by fine gradations, as of tint or shadow; to vary gradually. [Rare.]

I often sate at home On evenings, watching how they fined themselves With gradual conscience to a perfect night. Browning.

Fīne, n.

noun

n. [Lat. finis, end; L. Lat., a final agreement or concord between the lord and his vassal; a sum of money paid at the end, to make an end of a transaction, suit, or prosecution; mulct; penalty. Cf. FINANCE.]

End; termination; extinction. [Obs.] “To see their fatal fine.” Spenser.
A sum of money paid as the settlement of a claim, or by way of terminating a matter in dispute; especially, a payment of money imposed upon a party as a punishment for an offense; a mulct.
(Law.) (a.) (Feudal Law.) A final agreement concerning lands or rents between persons, as the lord and his vassal. Spelman. (b.) (Eng. Law.) A sum of money or price paid for obtaining a benefit, favor, or privilege, as for admission to a copyhold, or for obtaining or renewing a lease. Burrill.

Fine for alienation (Feudal Law), a sum of money paid to the lord by a tenant whenever he had occasion to make over his land to another. Burrill. — Fine of lands, a species of conveyance in the form of a fictitious suit compromised or terminated by the acknowledgment of the previous owner that such land was the right of the other party. Burrill. — In fine, in conclusion; by way of termination or summing up.

Fīne, v. t.

verbtransitive

[See FINE.] To impose a pecuniary penalty upon for an offense or breach of law; to set a fine on by judgment of a court; to punish by fine; to mulct; as, the trespassers were fined ten dollars, and imprisoned a month.

Fīne, v. i.

verbintransitive

To pay a fine. [Rare.]

Men fined for the king's good-will; or that he would remit his anger. Hallam.