Etimology
From Middle English fin, fyn, from Old French fin (“fine, minute, exact”), of obscure origin, but probably derived from Latin fīnīre (“to finish”) and/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.
adjective
fine (comparative finer, superlative finest)
Senses referring to subjective quality.
Senses referring to objective quality.
(cricket) Behind the batsman and at a small angle to the line between the wickets.
(obsolete) Subtle; thin; tenuous.
Examples
The tree frog that they encountered was truly a fine specimen.
Only a really fine wine could fully complement Lucía's hand-made pasta.
"That's a fine young fellow," said the historiographer of earwigs, to an American who stood next him in the crowd.
"A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there. […]."
Synonyms: good, excellent
You're a fine one to talk about laziness.
Here's another fine mess you've gotten us into.
A fine romance, with no kisses,A fine romance, my friend, this is;We should be like a couple of hot tomatoes,But you're as cold as yesterday's mashed potatoes.
Synonym: hell of a
How are you today? – Fine.
Will this one do? It's got a dent in it. – Yeah, it'll be fine, I guess.
It's fine with me if you stay out late, so long as you're back by three.
On the surface, everything is fine. The sleek, futuristic spaceship setting is fine , the acting is fine , the music is fine, the lighting is fine, the editing, the camerawork—all fine.
Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
Synonyms: all right, ok, o.k., okay, hunky-dory, kosher
That man is so fine that I'd jump into his pants without a moment's hesitation.
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.
In any case, Feinsilver’s nomenclatural suggestions and fine distinctions did not enjoy widespread adoption.
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
Thou haſt ſpoken all alreadie, vnleſſe thou canſt ſay they are married, but thou art too fine in thy euidence, therefore ſtand aſide.
The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine!
The nicest and most delicate touches of satire consist in fine raillery.
He has as fine a hand at picking a pocket as a woman.
Do you want to talk about what happened? – [sharply, with annoyance or discomfort] I'm fine!
The small scratch meant that his copy of “X-Men #2” was merely fine when it otherwise would have been “near mint”.
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.
And if thy oblation be a meate offering baken in the frying pan,it ſhalbe made of fine flowꝛe with oyle.
Grind it into a fine powder.
When she touched the artifact, it collapsed into a heap of fine dust.
Synonyms: fine-grained, powdered, powdery, pulverised, pulverized, small-grained
Antonym: coarse
The threads were so fine that you had to look through a magnifying glass to see them.
They protected themselves from the small parasites with a fine wire mesh.
Synonym: fine-threaded
Antonym: coarse
Coins nine tenths fine.
[…] to nudge it through the covers for a four […]
The eye standeth in the finer medium and the object in the grosser.
adverb
fine (comparative more fine, superlative most fine)
Expression of (typically) reluctant or agreement.
Well, nicely, in a positive, agreeable way.
(dated, dialect, colloquial) Finely; elegantly; delicately.
(pool, billiards) In a manner so that the driven ball strikes the object ball so far to one side as to be barely deflected, the object ball being driven to one side.
Examples
Synonyms: all right, alright, OK, very well
Everything worked out fine.
noun
fine (plural fines)
Fine champagne; French brandy.
(usually in the plural) Something that is fine; fine particles.
Examples
We had dined at l'Avenue's, and afterward went to the Café de Versailles for coffee. We had several fines after the coffee, and I said I must be going.
‘Darling,’ Lois told her, ‘don't get depressed. Have another fine.’
He refilled his glass. ‘The fine is very good,’ he said.
They filtered silt and fines out of the soil.
verb
fine (third-person singular simple present fines, present participle fining, simple past and past participle fined)
(transitive) To make finer, purer, or cleaner; to purify or clarify.
(intransitive) To become finer, purer, or cleaner.
To make finer, or less coarse, as in bulk, texture, etc.
To change by fine gradations.
(transitive) To clarify (wine and beer) by filtration.
(intransitive, dated) To become gradually fine; to diminish; to dwindle (with away, down, or off).
Examples
to fine gold
It hath been fined and refined by […] learned men.
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
to fine down a ship's lines, i.e. to diminish her lines gradually
I often sate at homeOn evenings, watching how they fined themselvesWith gradual conscience to a perfect night.
I watched her [the ship] […] gradually fining down in the westward until I lost sight of her hull.
Related words
synonyms
(to make or become finer, purer, or cleaner): clarify, refine, purify
related terms
(clarify by filtration): finings
related terms
final
finite
Etimology
From Middle English fyn, fyne, from Old French fin, from Medieval Latin fīnis (“a payment in settlement or tax”). Doublet of fin and finis.
noun
fine (plural fines)
A fee levied as punishment for breaking the law.
(obsolete) Money paid by a tenant on the commencement of a tenancy so that his or her rent may be small or nominal.
(Cambridge University slang) A drink that must be taken during a meal or as part of a drinking game, following an announcement that anyone who has done some (usually outrageous) deed is to be fined; similar to I have never; commonly associated with swaps; very similar to a sconce at Oxford University, though a fine is the penalty itself rather than the act of issuing it.
Examples
The fine for jay-walking has gone from two dollars to thirty in the last fifteen years.
The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.
Fine if you've…
Related words
synonyms
amercement
verb
fine (third-person singular simple present fines, present participle fining, simple past and past participle fined)
(transitive) To issue a fine as punishment to (someone).
(intransitive) To pay a fine.
Examples
She was fined a thousand dollars for littering, but she appealed.
Men fined for the king's good will; or that he would remit his anger; women fined for leave to marry.
Related words
synonyms
amerce
Etimology
From Italian fine (“end”). French fin. Doublet of fin and finis.
noun
fine (plural fines)
(music) The end of a musical composition.
(music) The location in a musical score that indicates the end of the piece, particularly when the piece ends somewhere in the middle of the score due to a section of the music being repeated.
Etimology
From Middle English finen, fynen, from Old French finer, finir. See finish (transitive verb).
verb
fine (third-person singular simple present fines, present participle fining, simple past and past participle fined)
(obsolete, intransitive) To finish; to cease.
(obsolete, transitive) To cause to cease; to stop.
noun
fine (plural fines)
(obsolete) End; conclusion; termination; extinction.
(feudal law) A final agreement concerning lands or rents between persons, as the lord and his vassal.
(UK, 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.
Examples
And secret feare, to see their fatall fine
Is this the fine of his fines?
To cause them to pay more rent or a gretter fyne than they haue ben acustomed to do in tyme past.