fine

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   issue a ticket or a fine to as a penalty

   I was fined for parking on the wrong side of the street

2. 2
   adv

   in a delicate manner

   finely shaped features

3. 3
   adj

   characterized by elegance or refinement or accomplishment

   fine wine

4. 4
   adj

   minutely precise especially in differences in meaning

   a fine distinction

5. 5
   adj

   of textures that are smooth to the touch or substances consisting of relatively small particles

   wood with a fine grain

6. 6
   adj

   thin in thickness or diameter

   a fine film of oil

7. 7
   adj

   Senses referring to subjective quality.

   The tree frog that they encountered was truly a fine specimen.

8. 8
   adj

   Senses referring to objective quality.

   The small scratch meant that his copy of “X-Men #2” was merely fine when it otherwise would have been “near mint”.

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.