Fine a.

Forms: 3–5 fin, fyn, 4–6 fyne, (4 fyin), 4– fine. [a. F. fin = Pr. fin-s, Sp., Pg., It. fino (also It. fine):—Com. Rom. fino (med.L. fīnis), prob. a back-formation from finire (pa. pple. finito) to FINISH. On the analogy of the many Rom. vbs. in -ire derived from adjs. (e.g., grossire to make thick, f. grosso thick) the vb. finire seems to have been felt to presuppose an adj. fino. Similar back-formations (from adjs. of ppl. form) are Sp. cuerdo intelligent from L. cordātus, It. manso gentle from L. mansuētus. The Rom. word has passed into all the Teut. langs.; cf. OHG., MHG. fîn (mod.G. fein), MDu., Du. fijn, Icel. (15th c.) fínn, Sw. fin, Da. fiin.

  In Fr. the word now chiefly expresses delicate and subtle perfection, as opposed to all that is gross or clumsy. In Eng. the senses derived from this notion are still current, but the word came to be used as a general expression of admiring approbation, equivalent to the Fr. beau, which it renders in many adopted locutions.]

  I.  Finished, consummate in quality.

  1.  Of superior quality, choice of its kind.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 2870 (Gött.).

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. II. 9. Purfiled with pelure · þe finest vpon erthe.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 672, Cleopatras.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 161/1. Fyne wyne, falernum.

1653.  Walton, Angler, 130. Certain fields neer Lemster, a Town in Herefordshire, are observed, that they make the Sheep that graze upon them more fat then the next, and also to bear finer Wool.

1872.  Yeats, Growth Comm., I. v. 31. Elba. remarkable to this day for the fine iron it produces, supplied material for their furnaces.

  absol.  a. 1400[?].  Morte Arth., 3371.

  2.  Free from foreign or extraneous matter, having no dross or other impurity; clear, pure, refined.

  a.  Of metals: Free from dross or alloy.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 16453 (Cott.). Quen þai þe fine gold for-soke.

c. 1384.  Chaucer, H. Fame, III. 256.

c. 1450.  Mirour Saluacioun, 1148.

1557.  N. T. (Genev.), Rev. i. 15. And his fete lyke vnto fyne brasse, as thogh they burned in a fornace: and his voyce as the sounde of many waters.

1611.  Bible, Ezra, viii. 27. Two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.

1757.  Jos. Harris, Coins, 31. The laws have ordained, that coins having certain denominations, well known to every body, should contain certain assigned quantities of pure or fine silver.

1867.  Chamb. Jrnl., XXXVIII. 14 Feb., 105/1. The word ‘standard’ sounds so grand, that we are apt to take sterling gold and silver as being the emblems of absolute purity; but it is not so, ‘fine’ gold being purer than ‘standard.’

1881.  Raymond, Mining Gloss., Fine metal.… The iron or plate-metal produced in the refinery.

  fig.  1727.  Swift, Further Acc. E. Currl. Mixing a greater quantity of the fine metal of other authors with the alloy of this society.

  b.  Of gold or silver: Containing a given proportion of pure metal, specified respectively in ‘carats’ (see CARAT) or ‘ounces’ (sc. per lb. troy).

1594.  Plat, The Jewell House of Art and Nature, III. 85. The golde being 24. Carots high, and the siluer 12. ounces fine.

1666.  Act 18 Chas. II., c. 5 § 1. For every pound troy of gold or silver … that shall be finer upon assay than crown gold or standard silver.

1820.  G. G. Carey, Funds, 95. Gold of twenty two carats fine signifies that twenty two parts of the whole mass is pure gold and two parts of some other metal.

1862.  E. W. Robertson, Historical Essays, I. i. 3 The hyperpyrus was of the purest gold, 24 carats fine.

  fig.  1581.  [See CARAT 3].

  c.  Of liquids; Free from turbidity or impurity, clear. Also occas. of air: Pure.

1481.  Caxton, Mirrour of the World, I. i. 6. The good wyn that is aboue abideth alway clere and fyn.

1567.  R. Edwards, Dam. & Pith., in Hazl., Dodsley, IV. 35. Methinks this is a pleasant city…. The air subtle and fine.

1596.  Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot. (1885), 27. Ane calde and perpetual spring, of fyne, freshe and fair water.

a. 1637.  B. Jonson, Rules Tavern, v.

1671.  Grew, The Anatomy of Plants, I. ii. (1682), 15. Which transient Sap, though it thus becomes fine, yet is not simple.

1723.  Swift, Stella at Wood-Park, 19.

1745.  R. Pococke, Descr. East, II. i. 5. They entertained me as well as they could, made cakes which were sour, and brought fine oil of olives, in which they usually dip their bread.

1819.  Shelley, Cyclops, 47.

  † 3.  Pure, sheer, absolute; perfect. In phrases adopted from OF., esp. (of, with, by) fine force, (by) absolute necessity, also (by) main force; fine love, fine heart, etc. Obs.

c. 1320.  Cast. Love, 1405.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 35. Kymak kyng of Scotland, he com for fyne awe.

c. 1340.  Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight, 1139.

c. 1450.  Merlin, 156. By fyn strengthe.

c. 1475.  The Romans of Partenay, 3831. Whom I so loued with hert Fÿn.

1564.  Haward, Eutropius, VII. 61. Then Cesar retourned to Rome wyth al his host, makinge semblaunce as though he woulde haue reuenged the deathe of hys father whyche adopted him, and of fine force caused the Romaynes to create hym Consull.

1670.  Cotton, Espernon, I. II. 45. At least to be able to raise such mutiny and confusion in the City, as might give him opportunity, at one time, or another, to effect that by fine Force, he could not obtain by the more moderate ways of Addresses, and Treaty.

1706.  Phillips (ed. Kersey), Fine Force, (Fr. Law Term) an absolute unavoidable Necessity or Constraint.

1721–1800.  in Bailey.

  4.  Of persons: † a. Consummate in virtue or excellence. Chiefly as rhyme-word. Obs.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., A. 1203. A god, a lorde, a frend ful fyin.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 257. A baron bold & fyn.

c. 1400.  Rowland & O., 14. Þat was sir Cherlles gud & fyne.

c. 1450.  Life of St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 1901.

  † b.  Used with reproachful designations: Consummate, ‘egregious.’ Obs. Cf. 12 c.

c. 1425.  Wyntoun, Cron., VI. vi. 18. A schrewe fyne.

1598.  Shaks., Merry W., V. i. 19. That same knaue (Ford hir husband) hath the finest mad diuell of iealousie in him (Master Broome) that euer gouern’d Frensie. Ibid. (1604), Oth. IV. i. 155. I was a fine Foole to take it.

  5.  Of persons or actions: Consummately skilful, highly accomplished. Now only as a contextual use of 12; Admirably skilful.

c. 1320.  Orfeo, 265.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 7715.

1535.  Stewart, Cron. Scot., III. 436.

1601.  Shaks., Jul. C., I. i. 10. In respect of a fine Workman, I am but as you would say, a Cobler.

1837.  Disraeli, Venetia, I. iii. She was a good linguist, a fine musician, was well read in our elder poets and their Italian originals, was no unskilful artist, and had acquired some knowledge of botany when wandering, as a girl, in her native woods.

1880.  L. Stephen, Pope, v. 133. With all his faults, Pope was a really fine judge of literature, and has made fewer blunders than such men as Addison, Gray, and Johnson, infinitely superior to him in generosity of feeling towards the living.

  II.  Delicate, subtle.

  6.  a. Exquisitely fashioned; delicately beautiful.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., A. 170. Her fygure fyn.

c. 1450.  Why I can’t be a nun, 113, in E. E. P. (1862), 141.

1530.  Palsgr, 312/2. Fyne as any worke that is small and subtylly wrought, soubtil.

1596.  Spenser, Prothalamion, 27.

1610.  Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 317.

1819.  Shelley, Cenci, IV. i. 133.

1867.  Tennyson, Window, 88.

  b.  Of immaterial things, e.g., emotion or feeling: Delicate, elevated, refined. Cf. 10.

1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., III. ii. 24.

1797.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, xxxiii. (1824), 713. This was a moment of finer joy to Vivaldi.

1842.  Tennyson, Locksley H., 46.

  7.  Delicate in structure or texture, delicately wrought; consisting of minute particles or slender threads or filaments. Opposed to COARSE.

  Often contextually coincident with sense 1.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 453.

a. 1400.  Sir Perc., 453.

1558.  Bury Wills (Camden), 151. J fyne hone.

1660.  Act 12 Chas. II., c. 4. Sched. s.v. Brushes, Fine, or head brushes.

1721.  Berkeley, Prevent. Ruin Gt. Brit., Wks. III. 199. If it be considered that more fine linen is wore in Great Britain than in any other country of Europe, it will be difficult to assign a reason why paper may not be made here as good, and in the same quantity, as in Holland, or France, or Genoa.

1737.  H. Bracken, Farriery Impr. (1756), I. 118. Any Thing that is termed fine Work.

1842.  Bischoff, Woollen Manuf., II. 192. The wool is fit for clothing purposes or for making fine flannels.

1884.  A. R. Pennington, Wiclif, vi. 187–8. They were covered with sarsnet, and written on fine vellum, illuminated; and they conveyed to the faithful purchaser an assurance of participation during life, and after death in the masses, vigils, and other religious exercises of the fraternity.

  b.  In minute particles, comminuted.

1535.  Coverdale, Lev. ii. 1. Whan a soule wyll offre a meatofferynge vnto the LORDE, then shal it be of fyne floure, and he shal poure oyle vpon it, and put frankencense theron, & so brynge it vnto Aarons sonnes the prestes.

1589.  Pappe with an Hatchet, D ij b. They haue sifted the holie Bible, and left vs nothing as they say, but branne; they haue boulted it ouer againe and againe, and got themselues the fine meale.

1602.  Shaks., Ham., V. i. 116. Is this the fine of his fines and the recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine pate full of fine dirt?

1820.  Shelley, Witch, xliv. 6.

1885.  Manch. Exam., 4 May, 5/3. The air is in fact quite misty with the fine impalpable dust which it contains.

  c.  Attenuated, of small density, subtle, rare.

1626.  Bacon, Sylva, § 761. When the Eye standeth in the Finer Medium, and the Object is in the Grosser, things shew greater.

1712–4.  Pope, Rape Lock, II. 61.

1783.  Pott, Chirurg. Wks., II. 219. The inside or cavity of this sac is constantly kept moist by the exudation of a fine fluid.

1860.  Miss Mulock, Parables, 30, in Poems, 273.

  d.  Very small in bulk or thickness; extremely thin or slender.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (1839), iii. 17. Upon the Body lay a fyn Plate of Gold.

1552.  Huloet, Fine threde, arachnion.

1577.  B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb. (1586), II. 68. To haue Roses of fyue sundry colours vppon one roote, make when they begin to burgen, a fine hole beneath in the stocke vnder the ioynt, and fyll it with redde colour made of Brasell sodde in water.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., I. iv. 21.

c. 1790.  Imison, Elements of Science and Art, I. 223. The circulation of the blood may easiest be seen in the tails and fins of fishes, in the fine membranes between a frog’s toes, or, best of all, in the tail of a water-newt.

1821.  Shelley, Prometh. Unb., II. i. 116.

  fig.  1588.  Shaks., Loves Labour’s Lost, V. i. 19. Peda. He draweth out the thred of his verbositie, finer then the staple of his argument.

1845.  Ld. Houghton, in Life (1891), I. viii. 360. From having lived with all sorts of people, and seen good in all, the broad black lines of judgment that people usually draw seem to me false and foolish, and I think my own finer ones just as distinct, though no one can see them but myself.

1884.  Manch. Exam., 26 May, 5/1. Margins of profit are so fine.

1891.  Farmer, Slang, Cut fine, to narrow down to a minimum.

  e.  Athletics. Reduced in fat to the proper degree by training.

1815.  Sporting Mag., XLVI. 44. The gentleman who brought him [Oliver] so fine into the ring in his combat with Painter.

1887.  R. L. Stevenson, Pastoral, in Longm. Mag., IX. 598. With a certain strain in the expression, like that of a man trained too fine and harassed with perpetual vigilance.

  8.  Of a tool, weapon, etc.: Sharp-pointed, keen-edged; sharp.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 5824. He … frusshit at Philmene with a fyn launse.

1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., V. iii. 78.

1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 342. It was not, indeed, till the reign of George the First, that the English surgeons ceased to import from France those exquisitely fine blades which are required for operations on the human frame.

1871.  Morley, Voltaire (1886), 8. Tempering for his just rage a fine sword, very fatal to those who laid burdens too hard to be borne upon the conscience and life of men.

  fig.  c. 1600.  Shaks., Sonnet lii.

1622.  Bacon, Hen. VII., 51. Great affaires are commonly too rough and stubborne to bee wrought vpon by the finer edges, or points of wit.

  † 9.  Of bodily constitution: Delicate, sensitive, tender. Obs.

1607.  Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 583. Some fine or delicate person which cannot endure so gross a medicine.

1661.  Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., Introd. [Meats] fit for fine complexions, idle and tender persons.

  10.  a. Of distinctions, reasoning, objects of perception, etc.: Subtle, delicate, refined. b. Of senses, organs, instruments: Capable of delicate perception or discrimination; sensitive to delicate or subtle impressions.

1567.  R. Edwards, Dam. & Pith., in Hazl., Dodsley, IV. 17.

1580.  Baret, Alv., F 544. A subtile and fine distinction, distinctio tenuis & acuta.

1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., I. iii. 338.

1693.  Dryden, Juvenal, Ded. 41. The nicest and most delicate touches of Satire consist in fine Raillery.

1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 409, 18 June, ¶ 1. Gratian very often recommends the fine Taste, as the utmost Perfection of an accomplished Man.

1784.  Cowper, Task, VI. 561.

1801.  Southey, Thalaba, III. xi.

1855.  Bain, The Senses and the Intellect, II. ii. § 8. When one part of the body touches another, the temperature being the same, the part endowed with the finer tactile power feels the other.

1879.  Thomson & Tait, Nat. Phil., I. I. § 431. A fine balance should turn with about a 500,000th of the greatest load which can safely be placed in either pan. In fact few measurements of any kind are correct to more than six significant figures.

1885.  Law Times, LXXIX. 171/2. The distinction between motive and intention is perhaps a little fine.

  † 11.  Intellectually subtle, clever, ingenious. In bad sense, Cunning, artful. Obs.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. X. 247. Had neuere freke fyne wytte · þe feyth to dispute.

c. 1450.  Life of St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 7869.

1559.  Mirr. Mag., Fall R. Tresilian, xii.

1579–80.  North, Plutarch (1676), 159. Soon after he understood they were counterfeit Letters, made by Hannibals fine device to have drawn him out.

1607–12.  Bacon, Ess Empire (Arb.), 298. The wisedome of all theis latter tymes, in Princes’ affaires, is rather fine Deliveryes, and shiftinges of daungers and mischeifes, when they are neare, than solid and grounded courses to keepe them aloofe.

1610.  Bp. Carleton, Jurisd., 6. Some of the finer Iesuits, who hold the same, are growen more cunning in the manner of deliuering it.

1701.  Rowe, Amb. Step-Moth., II. ii. 942.

1766.  C. Anstey, Bath Guide viii. (1807), 57.

  III.  Senses developed in Eng. (chiefly = Fr. beau).

  12.  Used as a general expression of admiration: Excellent; admirable in quality; of rare or striking merit.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 161/1. Fyne, or ryght goode.

1580.  Sidney, Arcadia (1622), 116. To my conceite the fine cleanenesse of bearing it was exceeding delightfull.

1671.  Lady Mary Bertie, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 22. Two very fine new plays.

1676.  Cotton, Angler, II. i. 5. As fine Rivers, and as clear from wood or any other encumbrance to hinder an Angler, as any you ever saw.

1729.  Law, Serious C., i. (1815), 9. You see them often at church, and pleased with fine preachers; but look into their lives, and you see them just the same sort of people as others are, that make no pretences to devotion.

1751.  Chatham, Lett. Nephew, ii. 7. They [Homer and Virgil] contain the finest lessons for your age to imbibe.

1756–7.  trans. Keysler’s Trav. (1760), IV. 451. Part of the fine paintings and ivory sculpture, designed as ornaments to this palace, have already been brought from Dusseldorp to Manheim.

1794.  Southey, Botany Day Ecl., 11. ’Tis a fine thing to fight the French for fame!

1829.  Lytton, Devereux, I. iii. Candour no longer seemed to me the finest of virtues.

1833.  Ht. Martineau, Manch. Strike, i. 9. Shake hands, my fine fellow.

1836.  W. Irving, Astoria, II. xii. 106. He accordingly fitted out a fine ship of four hundred and ninety tons, called the Beaver, and freighted her with a valuable cargo.

1863.  Kingsley, Water-Bab. (1878), 5. He thought of the fine times coming when he would be a man.

  b.  Of thoughts, sayings, etc.: Admirably conceived or expressed.

1676.  Hobbes, Iliad, Pref. (1686) 10. Two or three fine Sayings are not enough to make a Wit.

1695.  Dryden, Parall. Poetry & Paint., Prose Wks. 1800, III. 348. The word æs, or brass, was taken for a trumpet, because the instrument was made of that metal,—which of itself was fine.

1712.  Steele, Spect., No. 288, 30 Jan., ¶ 1. Saying as many fine Things as their Stock of Wit will allow.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 569, Timaeus, Introduction. The creation of the world is not a material process of working with legs and arms, but ideal and intellectual; according to his own fine expression, ‘the thought of God made God.’

  c.  Often used ironically.

1581.  J. Bell, Haddon’s Answ. Osor., 36. How say you fine man?

1613.  Shaks., etc., Hen. VIII., V. iv. 74. Y’haue made a fine hand fellowes?

1679.  Ld. Chancellor, in R. Mansel, Narr. Popish Plot, 40. You are a fine Fellow; first to come to His Majesty with one story, then to the Lord Powis.

1683.  in Wood, Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), III. 70. That ‘to execute penal lawes upon dissenters was’—speaking ironically—‘a fine way to unite us.’

1797.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, xvi. Fine plots they would lay.

1855.  Browning, Fra Lippo, 201.

1861.  T. A. Trollope, La Beata, I. iv. 74. It is all very fine, but one must live.

1890.  W. A. Wallace, Only a Sister? 323. Telling your mates of your fine goings-on.

  13.  Remarkably good-looking, handsome. Said both of persons and things.

  In the 18th c. the expression ‘a fine woman’ (= une belle femme) was very often used where we should now rather say ‘beautiful’ or ‘pretty.’

1340–70.  Alex. & Dind., 591. But hit [a tomb] fair be & fin · folie ȝe holden.

1598.  Yong, Diana, 36.

1716.  Franklin, Jrnl., Wks. 1887, I. 106. From the battlements of this upper castle (which they call the coop) you have a fine prospect of the greatest part of the island.

1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones, VIII. viii. His wife has, I believe, had much pretension to beauty, and is still a very fine woman.

1791.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Rom. Forest, x. ‘She is a fine girl,’ says he, meaning you, ma’amselle; ‘but she is nothing but a poor foundling after all—so it does not much signify.’

1828.  Scott, F. M. Perth, xxx. If young, handsome, and a Prince, you know not how to make yourself acceptable to a fine woman, it is not for me to say more.

1833.  Ht. Martineau, Brooke Farm, iv. 43. His sons in the field and his daughters in the dairy were as fine a set of lads and lasses as could be seen.

1867.  Miss Broughton, Cometh up as Flower, xxx. (1878), 334. My uncle, the Colonel, a little withered spick-and-span cock-sparrow, chirrups small old-world politesses to Dolly, whom he thinks ‘a monstrous fine woman, egad,’—his style of commendation savouring of the Regency—and who takes them suavely, honiedly, as she would take the vilest, most opprobrious epithets ever applied to woman to-day, being, forsooth, in highest good humour.

1868.  Lockyer, Elem. Astron., i. (1879), 34. The finest ring-nebula is the 57th in Messier’s catalogue.

  b.  Of the features, etc., in a more elevated sense: ‘Beautiful with dignity’ (J.).

1801.  Southey, Thalaba, IX. ii.

1849.  C. Brontë, Shirley, ii. He seems unconscious that his features are fine, that they have a southern symmetry, clearness, regularity in their chiseling; nor does a spectator become aware of this advantage till he has examined him well, for an anxious countenance, and a hollow somewhat haggard outline of face disturb the idea of beauty with one of care.

1878.  Hutton, Scott, i. 4. His father was a man of fine presence, who conducted all conventional arrangements with a certain grandeur and dignity of air, and ‘absolutely loved a funeral.’

  14.  Of handsome size or growth.

1590.  Greene, Never too Late (1600), 3. The finest buds are soonest nipt with frosts, the sweetest flowers sorest eaten with cankars, & the ripest & yongest wits soonest ouergrowen with follies.

1703.  Maundrell, Journ. Jerus., 40. The walks are shaded with orange trees of a large spreading size, and all of so fine a growth, both for stem and head, that one cannot imagine any thing more perfect in this kind.

1796.  C. Marshall, Garden., xvii. (1813), 279. Some sorts [of fruit trees] grow finest in a cool, others in a warm soil, and some situations are too bleak, either for early or late fruit, though the aspect, and all other circumstances, may be good.

1870.  Mrs. H. Wood, G. Canterbury, II. i. 9. A fine child you call him! That is a compliment very wide of the mark, sir, or else it betrays how much you know about babies. He is not a fine child, for he is remarkably small; but he is a very pretty one. They say he has my eyes, and all my features.

  b.  Colloquially often with derisive notion: Very large; also followed by large, big, etc.

1833.  Ht. Martineau, Berkeley the Banker, I. iii. 53. ‘You cannot be hungry,’ said Emma. ‘You had a fine slice of bread and honey just before Miss Berkeley came in.’

  15.  Of the weather, a day, etc.: In which the sky is bright, or comparatively free from cloud. Often merely in the sense: Free from rain. Also Naut. of the wind (see quot. 1867).

  [= F. beau; F. has also un temps fin bright and cloudless weather, but this seems not to have influenced the Eng. use.]

1704.  Cuningham, in Phil. Trans., XXV. 1688. Fair and pleasant weather, with fine gales at S.E.

1732.  Berkeley, Alciphr., II. § 1. The Weather was so fine they had a mind to spend the Day abroad.

1836.  M. Scott, Cruise Midge, I. ii. 39. We chose the centre one; and while the frigate hove-to in the offing, dashed over with a fine breeze, that, from the eddy round the point to windward, was nearly a fair wind up the river.

1867.  Tennyson, Window, 153.

1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Fine breezes, said of the wind when the flying-kites may be carried but requiring a sharp look-out.

1872.  J. G. Wood, Insects at Home, iii. 336–7. On a fine day, it is very interesting to watch the Ants travelling backwards and forwards on these roads.

  b.  One of these fine days, etc. (= F. un de ces beaux jours): often used playfully or derisively with reference to the occurrence of some unlooked for event.

1853.  Miss Mulock, Agatha’s Husb., I. iii. 65. Miss Bowen set off one fine morning, hoping to gain intelligence of her neighbors by the roundabout medium of Emma Thorycroft.

1854.  Dickens, Hard T., I. xi. 89. Don’t you call the Institutions of your country a muddle, or you’ll get yourself into a real muddle, one of these fine mornings.

  16.  Of dress: Highly ornate, showy, smart. Hence of persons: Smartly dressed. Chiefly in disparaging use. Prov. Fine feathers make fine birds.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 84. With fayre and fyne clothes.

1596.  Shaks., Tam. Shr., II. i. 310. I will be sure my Katherine shall be fine.

1665.  Boyle, Occas. Refl., v. v. (1848), 313. A Gentleman, who, it seems, does not much frequent the Court, chancing to come in a Colour’d suit, that, but last Week, would have been thought a fine one, was star’d at by all in the room.

1721.  J. Kelly, Scot. Prov., 109. Fine Feathers make fine Birds. Ornament and Dress will set out a Person; who otherways would look but course.

1730.  Swift, Death & Daphne.

1771.  Mrs. Harris, in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury, I. 214. Louisa was an Indian princess; Mr. Cambridge borrowed a dress for her, which was pretty and fine, the habit muslin, with green and gold sprigs, with a turban and veil.

1798.  Jane Austen, Northang. Abb. (1833), I. ii. 7. Dress was her passion. She had a most harmless delight in being fine; and our heroine’s entrée into life could not take place till after three or four days had been spent in learning what was mostly worn, and her chaperon was provided with a dress of the newest fashion.

  17.  Characterized by or affecting refinement or elegance; polished, dainty, refined, fastidious, etc.

1546.  J. Heywood, Prov. (1562), I j b.

1547.  Latimer, Serm. & Rem. (1845), 109. Those fine damsels thought it scorn to do any such thing unto Mary.

1732.  Pope, Ep. Bathurst, 73.

1774.  Mrs. Harris, in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury, I. 279. She is too fine to come to town till the day before the birthday.

1786.  Burns, Holy Fair, xv.

1800.  Mrs. Hervey, The Mourtray Family, I. 55. Since she had been admitted into the society of her fine neighbours, the little excursions she occasionally made with her mother in the one-horse-chaise had quite a different effect upon her to what they had formerly.

1814.  Wordsw., Excursion, VI. 306.

1885.  Besant, Children of Gibeon, II. xxxii. He’s a good boy, but he’s only a working-man, you see. He hasn’t got your fine ways.

  18.  Of speech, writing, etc.: Affectedly ornate or elegant.

1773.  Mrs. Chapone, Improv. Mind (1774), II. 113. I hope you will ever be equally a stranger to coquetry and prudery; and that you will be able to distinguish the effects of real esteem and love from idle gallantry and unmeaning fine speeches.

c. 1800.  K. White, Lett. (1837), 334. Aim at conciseness, neatness, and clearness; never make use of fine or vulgar words.

1837.  J. H. Newman, Par. Serm. (ed. 3), I. xiii. 202. It makes trial of its own professions; and if it has been tempted to say any thing noble and great, or to blame another for sloth or cowardice, it takes itself at its word, and resolves to make some sacrifice (if possible) in little things, as a price for the indulgence of fine speaking, or as a penalty on its censoriousness.

1867.  Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), I. App. 610. Another cause of confusion is that the ancient geographical names were constantly used, not only in their straightforward geographical sense, but also by way of fine writing, in which case they are constantly used affectedly, and often inaccurately.

  b.  Flattering, complimentary.

1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 168. When this haggling was very obstinate and very skilful it was called by some fine name.

1865.  Mill, in Morn. Star, 6 July. I hope you don’t suppose that I think all the fine things true about me which have been said and written with so much exaggeration, but with a depth and strength of kind feeling towards myself, for which I never can be sufficiently grateful.

1874.  Morley, Compromise (1886), 169. When the logic of the feelings is invoked to substitute the egoism of the family for the slightly narrower egoism of the individual, it can hardly be more than a fine name for self-indulgence.

  B.  sb. (The adj. used absol.) † a. A fine woman, † b. Fine quality. c. The fine part of anything. d. Fine weather.

1607.  Tourneur, Revenger’s Trag., III. v.

1638.  Ford, Lady’s Trial, III. i.

1696.  J. F., Merchant’s Ware-ho., 15. What it wants in the fine, you have compleated in the strength.

1834.  Lamb, Final Mem., viii. To H. C. Robinson, 264. You go about, in rain or fine, at all hours, without discommodity.

1886.  G. Allen, For Maimie’s Sake, xviii. The fine of the day will all be gone by that time.

  C.  adv. = Finely: a. In a fine manner, elegantly, etc.; as, to talk fine. b. Well, very well; completely, fully; also in † Full fine; † Well and fine: to one’s satisfaction, thoroughly. Obs. exc. dial. c. Delicately, mincingly, subtly, with nicety.

  a.  1508.  Dunbar, Tua Mariit Wemen, 31.

1708.  Lond. Gaz., No. 4496/4. A strong Bay Horse that … goes fine.

1730.  Swift, Paneg. on the Dean.

1751.  Female Foundl., II. 46. Nothing could be imagined finer turned than the Praises which he gave me.

1773.  Hist. Ld. Ainsworth, I. 9. Servants who drest finer than their mistresses.

1812.  W. Taylor, in Monthly Rev., LXXIX. 384. All the personages talk fine; and in those subordinate scenes, which, if essential to the plan of the piece, are superfluous to the spectator’s impatience, we still discover a squandering of the arts of composition, and a constant diffusion of beauties of detail, which delay the action and tease the listener.

1812.  L. Hunt, in Examiner, 14 Dec., 785/2. They spoke finest.

  b.  c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1715, Lucrece. The husbonde knew the estris wel & fyn.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 7168. Iche freike was fyn hole of þere fell hurttes.

c. 1470.  Hardyng, Chron., C. v.

c. 1554.  Interl. Youth, in Hazl., Dodsley, II. 12.

1889.  Barrie, Window in Thrums, 168. I believe fine ye mean what ye say, but ye forget yersel when the time comes.

1890.  W. A. Wallace, Only a Sister? 327. I could see all fine from behind the curtains.

  c.  1588.  Shaks., Loves Labour’s Lost, V. i. 22. Such rackers of ortagriphie, as to speake dout fine, when he should say doubt.

1676.  Cotton, Angler, II. v. 35. To fish fine, and far off is the first and principal Rule for Trout Angling.

1704.  J. Trapp, Abra-Mulé, III. i. 1191.

  D.  Comb.

  1.  Of the adj. a. With pr. pples. forming adjs., as fine-appearing (U.S. dial.), -looking.

1879.  Howells, L. Aroostook (1883), II. 59. ‘She is very *fine-appearing,’ said Lydia. Staniford smiled at the countrified phrase; he had observed that when she spoke her mind she used an instinctive good language; when she would not speak it, she fell into the phraseology of the people with whom she had lived.

  b.  In parasynthetic derivatives, as fine-baited, -eyed, -feathered, -featured, -fleeced, -furred, -grained, -haired, -jointed, -mouthed, -nosed, -paced, -skinned, -spirited, -threaded, -timbered, -toned, -tongued, -tubed, -witted, -woolled.

1598.  Shaks., Merry W., II. i. 99. Lead him on with a *fine baited delay.

1815.  Keats, Epistle to G. F. Mathew, 35.

1751.  R. Paltock, P. Wilkins (1884), II. ii. 18. It was a very *fine-feathered creature, and they were very much delighted with the beauty of it.

1657.  Cokaine, Obstinate Lady, III. i. Did she exceed the fairest of her Sex more then *fine-featur’d Mars the ugliest Satyre.

1835.  Ure, Philos. Manuf., 131. We know little concerning the woollen manufactures of the Egyptians, Greeks, or Romans; but we may conclude that the latter nation had carried this important art to high perfection, from the great pains bestowed by them on the improvement of the breed of sheep, the high prices at which the *fine-fleeced animals were sold, and from the large supplies of clothing sent to their armies.

1630.  Drayton, Noahs Floud, 97.

1538.  Leland, Itin. (1744), VII. 81. A great Nombar of very fayre and *fyne greynyd Okes apte to fele Howses.

1859.  F. A. Griffiths, The Artillerist’s Manual (1862), 92. A musket, charged with two drams of fine grained, or musket powder, should drive a steel bullet through 15 or 16 half-inch elm boards.

1711.  Lond. Gaz., No. 4890/4. Very Fat and *fine hair’d.

1849.  J. H. Parker, Goth. Archit., iii. (1874), 49. The one is called ‘wide-jointed masonry,’ the other *‘fine-jointed masonry,’ and this is the best and safest distinction between early and late Norman work or generally between the eleventh and twelfth centuries; the rule is almost of universal application.

a. 1700.  B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, *Fine-mouth’d, nice dainty.

1811.  Sporting Mag., XXXVIII. 110/2. A parson,… who, no doubt, for the sake of the faith, would have stretched a fellow-creature upon the rack, and even have drawn the cords himself, should the executioner be too fine-mouthed; as the Chancellor did, in the case of poor Ann Askew, in King Harry’s days.

1655.  Fuller, The Church-History of Britain, VI. ii. § 1. Though the Monks themselves were too *fine-nosed to dabble in Tan-fatts, yet they kept others (bred in that trade) to follow their work.

1625.  B. Jonson, The Staple of Newes, I. i.

1701.  Lond. Gaz., No. 3748/4. A black Gelding … *fine Skin’d.

1714.  Mandeville, Fab. Bees (1729), II. 315. It would be very wrong in us, for a few vicious Horses, to condemn the whole Species as such, without taking notice of the many *fine-spirited Creatures, that are naturally tame and gentle.

1890.  Child, Ballads, VII. ccxi. 145/2. It is a fine-spirited ballad as it stands.

1833.  Herschel, Astron., ii. 84. Eye-glass, moveable by a *fine-threaded screw.

1634.  Massinger, Very Woman, II. iii.

1864.  A. M‘Kay, The History of Kilmarnock (1880), 120. A *fine-toned organ has also been placed in the Church.

1580.  Sidney, Arcadia (1622), 238. A sleight I used of my *fine-witted wench Artesia.

1868.  M. Lasterye, in Darwin, Anim. & Pl., I. iii. 99. *Fine-woolled sheep may be kept wherever industrious men and intelligent breeders exist.

  2.  Of the adv. a. With pr. pples., forming adjs., as fine-dividing, -feeling, -sounding, -tapering.

1879.  Geo. Eliot, Coll. Breakf. P., 610.

1795.  Jemima, I. 4. This … is your amiable … your *fine-feeling Miss Jemima.

1845.  Ford, Handbk. Spain, I. 35. The names of the animals are always *fine-sounding and polysyllabic.

1728–46.  Thomson, Spring, 383.

  b.  With pa. pples., forming adjs., as fine-bred, -dressed, -set, -sifted, -spoken, -tricked, -wrought.

1667.  Dryden, Wild Gallant, III. ii. To see him bring down a *fine-bred Woman, with a Lute, and a Dressing-box, and a handful of Money to her Portion.

1710.  Palmer, Proverbs, 111. Many a fine-bred Gentleman has been ruin’d by a Title, and repented nothing so much as being call’d My Lord.

1681.  Otway, Soldier’s Fort., II. i. If I were a dainty *fine-drest Coxcomb, with a great Estate, and a little or no Wit, Vanity in abundance, and good for nothing, how would they melt and soften me!

1703.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 111. *Fine-set. The Irons of Planes are set Fine, or Rank. They are set Fine, when they stand so shallow below the sole of the Plane, that in working they take off a thin shaving.

1823.  P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 223. Fine-set.—A plane is said to be fine-set, when the sole of the plane, so projects as to take a very thin broad shaving.

1814.  Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. I. (1863), 197. There was something even disagreeable in the excessive nicety, the Dutch preciseness of the shining gravel walks, the smooth shaven turf of the lawn, and the *fine-sifted mould of the shrubberies.

1666.  Pepys, Diary, 1 April. I find him [Sir Philip Howard] a very *fine-spoken gentleman, and one of great parts, and very courteous.

1853.  Lynch, Self-Improv., v. 105. All the talk and airs of fine-spoken reputable people will suggest truth about what is really fair and commendable.

1600.  J. Lane, Tom Tel-troth, 235.

1691.  Norris, Pract. Disc., 239. With as much Industry, Art and Wariness, as the laborious Spider weaves her *fine-wrought Web.

1725.  De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 198. We were loaden with callicoes, muslins, fine wrought China silks, damasks, Japan wares, China wares, spices, &c.

1816.  Shelley, There is no work, 21.

  c.  With verbs, forming verbs, as fine-burnish.

1833.  J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 40. Women, who carefully *fine-burnish the bows with a polished steel instrument.

  3.  Special comb.: fine-arch (see quot.); fine-boring vbl. sb., the process of giving a fine bore to a gun; fine-cut a., (a) finely cut, delicately chiselled; (b) cut so as to be fine; fig. cut down to narrow limits; fine-edge v., to put a fine edge upon, sharpen; fine-fingered a., (a) delicate, fastidious; (b) light-fingered; fine-headed a., (a) given to making fine distinctions; (b) clear-headed, clever; † fine-palated a., pleasing to the palate; fine-sight (see quot.); fine stuff (see quots.); fine-toothed a., (a) of a file: having fine teeth; (b) of persons: delicate or epicurean in matters of taste or palate; fine world = BEAU-MONDE. Also FINE-ART, FINE GENTLEMAN, FINE LADY, FINE-SPUN, FINE-WEATHER, etc.

1874.  Knight, Dict. Mech., I. 847/1. *Fine-arch. (Glass.) The smaller fritting-furnace of a glass-house.

1891.  Pall Mall G., 30 May, 7/2. The process called *‘fine-boring.’

1894.  Daily News, 9 Jan., 5/2. These days of *fine-cut profit on safe monetary business.

1824.  Mechanic’s Mag., No. 46. 280. Easy mode of *fine-edging a Razor.

1549.  Coverdale, Erasm. Par., 1 Tim. 13. To professe Christ, is not an ydle nor a delycate *fine fyngred matter: it requireth watching, attendaunce, and dilygent continuaunce.

c. 1559.  in Strype, Ann. Ref., I. xiv. 189. These Finefingered Rufflers with their Sables about their Necks, Corked Slippers, Trimmed Buskins, and warm Mittons.

1603.  Breton, Mad World (Grosart), 11/1. Taking me for a fine fingreed companion, fell abord with me for assistance and aduice, so farre, that at last, in an assurance of my fidelitie to them, and villany to all the world besides, they put a sum of money into my hands to goe to play with.

1579.  Tomson, Calvin’s Serm. Tim., 1007–8. If he had ben some *fine headed & learned fellowe, a man woulde haue saide, yet it had bene some equal match.

1583.  Golding, Calvin on Deut., li. 307. Some … which are so fine headded that they will make God a lyer.

1603.  Florio, Montaigne, II. xvii. (1632), 366. The finer-headed, and more subtle-brained a man is, the more is he hated and suspected, if once the opinion of honesty be taken from him.

1742.  Lond. & Country Brew., I. (ed. 4). 37. The desired End of enjoying *fine-palated wholesome Drink.

1859.  Musketry Instruct., 34. *Fine-sight is when the line of sight is taken along the bottom of the notch of the back-sight, the fine point of the fore-sight being only seen in the alignment.

1825.  J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 611. *Fine stuff, which is merely pure lime, slaked first with a small quantity of water, and afterwards, without any extraneous addition, supersaturated with water, and put into a tub in a half fluid state, where it is allowed to remain till the water is evaporated.

1858.  Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Fine-stuff, the second coat of plaster for the walls of a room, composed of finely sifted lime and sand mixed with hair; the first coat of a coarser material.

1601.  Holland, Pliny, I. 430. As they say that be *fine-toothed, and have a delicate tast.

1842.  Bk. Trades, 231. The fine-toothed files.

1801.  Han. More, Wks., VIII. 181. There is among the more elevated classes of society, a certain set of persons who are pleased exclusively to call themselves, and whom others by a sort of compelled courtesy are pleased to call, the *fine world.