finenessn.

Brit.

/ˈfʌɪnnəs/, U.S.

/ˈfaɪ(n)nəs/

Forms: 1500s finenes, 1500s fynenes, 1500s fynenesse, 1500s–1700s finenesse, 1600s– fineness; also Scottish pre-1700 finnes, pre-1700 fynnes.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: fine adj., -ness suffix.

Etymology: < fine adj. + -ness suffix. Compare earlier finesse n. and discussion at that entry.

a. Superior quality; excellence; perfection. Also in weakened use: admirable nature or quality; merit; distinction.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun]

goodnessOE

mund?c1250

daintethc1290

bountyc1300

daintyc1300

excellencec1384

virtuea1393

excellency?a1400

nobilitya1400

meritc1425

singularity?c1450

fineness1523

admirationa1533

rareness1545

rightness1561

rariety1566

rarity1566

excellentness1569

beautya1586

admirableness1607

primeness1611

gallantry1650

eximiety1656

optimity1656

altesse1660

unexceptionableness1669

excellingness1701

quality1803

sterlingness1815

stupendosity1828

goodliness1832

superbness1832

unexceptionability1837

sweetness and light1867

class1884

rortiness1885

rippingness1903

superstardom1928

motherfucker1977

awesomeness1998

1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng iii. f. 3 The fynenesse of the grasse.

1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Love in W. W. Skeat Chaucerian & Other Pieces (1897) 92 Margaryte..sheweth in it-selfe, by fynenesse of colour, whether [etc.].

1569 R. Grafton Chron. I. 385 For the richenesse thereof, and for the excellency and finenesse of the workemanship, the Frenche king ware it aboute his necke.

1610 R. Gibbons tr. L. de la Puente Meditat. Myst. Holy Faith ii. 2 The mysteries of the Passion, wherein our Sauiour Christe discouered the finenesse of his loue.

a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Hants. 2 They [sc. Swine] lodge at liberty,..which some assign the reason of the fineness of their flesh.

1736 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer II. viii. 46 That Malt is esteemed best..which for Fineness of Colour, Strength and Taste, exceeds all others.

1776 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad x. 453/2 The island of Barem..is celebrated for the plenty, variety and fineness of its diamonds.

1819 Examiner 16 May 306/2 What is to be said for any true fineness of nature in a prince, who would do away the noblest improvements merely because an enemy had set him the example?

1881 Athenæum 19 Feb. 271 Nor does the morbidezza which distinguishes every line of its perfect contours and characterizes all of them detract from the fineness of the whole.

1927 W. Cather Let. 2 June in L. B. Bohlke W. Cather in Person 181 Even very stupid young people addicted to cheap rhetoric are yet capable of perceiving fineness, of feeling it very poignantly.

1976 D. Menzel Pottery Style & Society Anc. Peru iv. 122/1 Only some of the musical instruments of Ica approach the Chincha-Inca bowls in fineness of manufacture.

2010 Hobart (Tasmania) Mercury (Nexis) 5 Mar. 34 Glenn James said he thought Tasmania had the potential to produce chardonnays with a fineness unmatched anywhere else in the country.

†b. concrete. Articles of good quality. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > [noun] > good thing > collectively

fineness1579

1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 52 Suche other like costly furniture and finenes.

a. The extent or degree to which a metal (esp. gold or silver) is pure.In later use typically expressed as the number of parts per thousand of pure metal.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > qualities of metals > [noun] > fineness or purity

toucha1325

finesse1424

finance1473

fineness1532

purity1550

perfection1585

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > alloy > [noun] > alloy of precious metals > proportion of gold or silver in alloy

fineness1790

1532–3 in D. H. Fleming Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (1921) II. 208/2 For the quhilk fynnes and wecht the maister of cunȝe and assayour sal be haldin to ansuer.

1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. viii. f. 38 The golde wherof they are made, is natiue, and of much lyke finenes to that wherof the florenes are coyned.

1638 J. Penkethman Artachthos sig. K4 The finenesse of their Coine, which did farre exceed ours.

1665 Golden Coast or Descr. Guinney iii. 31 They brought from thence at this Voyage, four hundred pound weight and odd of Gold, of two and twenty Carrats, and one grain in fineness.

1740 H. Vans Inq. Nature & Uses of Money 4 These [promissory Notes] must express the Thing promised, as so many Ounces of Silver, Pounds of Iron, of a certain Fineness &c.

1790 W. Nicholson First Princ. Chem. ii. §iii. i. 227 In estimating or expressing the fineness of gold, the whole mass spoken of is supposed to weigh twenty-four carats of twelve grains each.

1809 Tradesman 1 Nov. 389 Cast iron, which yielded better bar iron by the usual processes, is reducible to the same degree of fineness with much less trouble.

1862 G. H. Makins Man. Metall. viii. 144 From numerous examinations of the quality of the fine silver so obtained, the author finds that the average fineness is about 998 parts in the thousand.

1957 Encycl. Brit. II. 555/2 The gold present is reported as so many parts of gold in 1,000 parts of alloy. This is called ‘Fineness’, and British gold coinage is said to be ‘916·6 fine’.

2014 K. Butcher & M. Ponting Metall. Rom. Silver Coinage p. xxiii These early discoveries did not challenge the basic narrative of Roman imperial monetary history as one of almost continuous decline in fineness from the reign of Nero onwards.

†b. Of a liquid, esp. a body of water: freedom from turbidity or impurity; clearness. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > liquid > [noun] > qualities of liquid > purity or clearness

finesse1463

fineness1633

limpidity1656

limpidness1664

1633 A. Munday et al. Stow's Surv. of London (new ed.) 17/2 The Land-flouds also doe greatly staine the finenesse of the streame.

1657 J. Howell Londinopolis 13 The finenesse of the River.

1664 P. Neil in J. Evelyn Pomona in Sylva 36 Broach the Vessel..and see what fineness it is of.

3. The quality or fact of being very small in diameter or thickness; slenderness, thinness; (with reference to a point or edge) sharpness.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > sharpness of edge or point > [noun]

sharpnessc725

keenness1530

fineness?1537

acuity1598

acuteness1642

eagerness1831

the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > slenderness > [noun]

fineness?1537

slendernessa1538

finesse1551

tenuity1578

gracility1623

gracileness1727

exility1750

attenuity1830

?1537 T. Elyot Castell of Helthe ii. ii. f. 17 By fourme is vnderstand grossenes, fynenesse, thyckenesse, or thynnesse.

1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xi. 201 A Screw, whose Thread shall be of the same fineness that the Screw and the Shank is of.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Silver Silver-Wire, is Silver drawn thro' the Holes of a Wire-drawing-Iron, and by this Means reduced to the Fineness of a Thread or Hair.

1780 A. Young Tour Ireland (Dublin ed.) I. 324 The grist or fineness of the yarn, determines the set or fineness of the reed through which it is to be wrought.

1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. xix. 357 The glue or gum, being passed through these minute apertures, forms hairs of almost imperceptible fineness.

1878 Young Scientist Jan. 24/1 Cutting instruments act by reason of the fineness of the edge which enters the material.

1928 R. B. Dixon Building of Cultures vi. 202 In fineness of thread spun, their only known competitors were the Indian weavers of the famous Dacca muslins.

1958 J. E. Davies Introd. Tool Marks, Firearms & Striagraph xi. 196 The ability of a tracing stylus to detect or resolve fine striae depends almost entirely upon the fineness of the point.

2010 W. Steen & J. Mazumder Laser Material Processing (ed. 4) xi. 471 Wire stripping for ultrasound equipment, endoscopes and heart pacemakers poses a problem owing to the extreme fineness of the wire.

†4. Shrewdness, astuteness; adroitness in deceit or evasion; cunning, craftiness. Also: a clever or devious stratagem, a ploy. Obsolete (rare after early 18th cent.).Cf. finesse n. 2, 4a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > cunning > [noun] > a wile or cunning device

wrenchc888

craftOE

turnc1225

ginc1275

play?a1300

enginec1300

wrenkc1325

forsetc1330

sleightc1340

knackc1369

cautel138.

subtletya1393

wilea1400

tramc1400

wrinkle1402

artc1405

policy?1406

subtilityc1410

subtiltyc1440

jeopardy1487

jouk1513

pawka1522

frask1524

false point?1528

conveyance1534

compass1540

fineness1546

far-fetch?a1562

stratagem1561

finesse1562

entrapping1564

convoyance1578

lift1592

imagine1594

agitation1600

subtleship1614

artifice1620

navation1628

wimple1638

rig1640

lapwing stratagem1676

feint1679

undercraft1691

fly-flap1726

management1736

fakement1811

old tricka1822

fake1829

trickeration1940

swiftie1945

shrewdie1961

the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > cunning > [noun] > astuteness

yepshipc1000

yepleȝȝcc1175

yephedea1250

slyness1357

far-castingc1400

policyc1440

far-castc1540

fineness1546

astucec1550

shrewdnessa1616

arguteness1662

cuteness1768

smartness1800

astucity1837

astuteness1843

Yorkshiredom1849

flyness1888

shrewd1977

sus1979

1546 in State Papers Henry VIII (1852) XI. 374 He said that the fynenesse of the Frenchemen was suche, that they wold gyve a thowsande to wynne a myllion.

1581 T. Howell His Deuises sig. I.iij Your curious hed may finenesse [printed fiuenesse] frame.

1654 J. Cleveland Idol of Clownes (new ed.) 94 By this finenesse they are gained to quit the gates.

1663 J. Heath Flagellum (1672) 55 For his party had tryed all ways to over-reach the Presbyterean with fineness and Artifice.

1685 H. More Cursory Refl. Pref. sig. A1 Against all the Finenesses of Rome.

1713 R. Steele in Guardian 30 Sept. 2/1 Nor shall I speak dishonourably of some little Artifice and Finenesse used upon these Occasions.

1872 Ld. Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 83 And so fill up the gap where force might fail With skill and fineness.

5. Striking or attractive appearance; beauty, splendour. With reference to dress: elegance; showiness.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [noun] > fine or dignified appearance

fineness1553

the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > splendour > [noun] > fine or gay appearance

gaynessc1443

show1539

fineness1553

bravery1573

brave1596

gaudiness1601

gallantry1613

gaiety1625

blow1710

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > [noun] > qualities of

disguisinessc1386

threadbareness1530

lustinessa1547

tricksinessc1550

niceness1559

trickness1600

quaintness1603

fineness1667

overdress1781

fullness1792

succinctness1818

dowdiness1843

dowdyism1859

gauziness1873

floppiness1892

1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Bv^v The chiefe cytie..is in situacion and fynenes, much lyke vnto the cytie of Milayne.

1569 A. Golding tr. N. Hemmingsen Postill f. 192^v The cause of this Gluttons damnation are not his riches, and the finenesse of his apparell.

1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety v. 87 The fineness of Cloaths destroys the ease.

1674 P. Talbot Friar Disciplind 147 The Deuil will not in the last hour inueigh so much against you for..the fineness of your dress.

1719 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (ed. 7) p. xxv The beauty and fineness of the Trees.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones VI. xvi. v. 46 He greatly admired the Fineness of the Dresses.

1849 E. H. Melville & C. Norton Resid. at Sierra Leone xxxix. 328 Naval storehouses and fortifications..add to the fineness of the landscape formed by the islands, trees, hills, and fields.

1876 L. Rousselet India & its Native Princes (rev. ed.) xvii. 211 If you admire the front for its grandeur and the fineness of its ornaments, the interior will astonish you by its magnificence.

1922 C. Harris Eyes of Love ii. 35 It was the girlish delicacy of his skin, the sober fineness of his clothes that concealed his real quality.

2013 H. L. Reid Pretty Dark Nothing xxi. 198 Marcus glanced over at Beth. ‘Man, I don't know how you can resist such fineness.’

a. Subtle or elegant refinement, esp. of speech or thought; discernment; subtlety; delicacy. Also: a refined thought, action, etc.Cf. finesse n. 5a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > delicacy of

subtletya1450

subtility1494

election1531

fineness1561

finesse1564

delicacy1678

subtlety1728

nicety1780

subtleness1872

1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer i. sig. f.iiii If this Courtyer speake w^t suche finenesse & grauity among vs, there wil be some y^t wil not vnderstand him.

1577 H. Peacham Garden of Eloquence Ep. sig. A.ij^v Many..affect fynenesse of speeche, and neglect the knowledge of thinges.

1607 R. C. in tr. H. Estienne World of Wonders To Rdr. sig. A4 The finenesse, fitnesse, and featnesse of the phrase.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida (1623) i. iii. 209 Those that with the finenesse [1609 finesse] of their soules, By Reason guide his execution.

1654 Bp. J. Taylor Real Presence 205 It were a finenesse of Spirit to be able to believe the two parts of a contradiction.

1690 W. Temple Ess. Anc. & Mod. Learning in Wks. (1731) I. 167 That Language [sc. the French] has much more Fineness and Smoothness at this Time.

1709 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions Pref. p. xxiv The Softness of Her Sex, and the Fineness of her Genius, conspire to give her a very distinguishing Character.

1780 F. Burney Jrnl. Apr. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (2003) IV. 82 He..played with a fineness that..resembled the man we looked at at Piozzi's Benefit.

1856 D. Masson Ess. Biogr. & Crit. x. 452 Those peculiar finenesses and flights of intellectual activity which are native to verse.

1883 R. Broughton Belinda II. ii. ix. 145 The Professor, though not at all deaf, has no longer that fineness of hearing which is spared to few of us after forty.

1913 F. H. Burnett T. Tembarom xx. 258 His reverence for her little finenesses and reserves increased instead of wearing away.

1930 E. F. Benson As we Were iii. 38 In a brusquer age..we are apt to think that such a fineness of speech and of bearing denote insincerity.

2006 Guardian (Nexis) 24 June 20 He has the fineness of judgment that James himself thought indispensable for such work [sc. literary criticism].

b. A subtle point or matter; a nicety; a nuance. Apparently only in plural.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > subtle point

subtletya1425

subtilityc1485

jimp?a1500

nicety1589

nicery1605

fineness1622

pointille1626

measuring cast1631

criticisma1640

exility1642

subtilty1681

quoddity1682

nuance1781

distinguo1895

1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. ii. 17 Thinking that..there was no need of these finenesses and niceties betweene them.

1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge i. 10 Lost in the finenesses of words.

1727 R. Acherley Britannic Constit. ix. 555 Both Sides proceeded with such artificial Finenesses, as were never likely to end in any real or sincere Compliance.

1775 F. Spilsbury Treat. Method curing Gout (ed. 3) iii. 60 Its [sc. mercury] great and salutary effects on animal bodies may be readily explain'd and render'd intelligible, without running into finenesses and subtleties.

1833 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 276/1 Niceties and finenesses like these, are tests to try the skill of translators.

1890 J. H. Stirling Philos. & Theol. v. 83 Leaving all such finenesses aside, we may limit ourselves to the distinct avowal on Aristotle's part, [etc.].

1962 G. Wescott Images Truth vii. 203 These finenesses, revelations of nature and human nature, each in terms of the other..have not been Mann's chief claim to fame.

2009 T. Sen in W. Shakespeare Macbeth 175 Hanmer's attempt to reduce the number of short lines in this extract made havoc of all these finenesses of the Folio text.

7. The quality or fact of being composed of fine particles, filaments, or threads; delicacy of structure or texture.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > other specific kinds of texture > [noun] > fine texture

finesse1551

fineness1576

1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 198 This Ilande was long since greatly esteemed, eyther for the number of the Sheepe, or for the finenesse of the fleese.

1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 182 Taffataes of transparant finenesse.

1688 J. Harrison Let. 9 Sept. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) VI. 269 The Hartfordshire wheat..is Hunted out by all the Bakers in London for the fineness and whiteness of the flower.

1715 R. Thoresby Ducatus Leodiensis 483 A Piece of Point-work Lace, (wrought by the Nuns) of incredible fineness.

?1770 J. Warltire Conc. Ess. Philos. & Chem. Subj. 51 Fluor spar reduced to the fineness of coarse sand.

1840 D. Lardner Treat. Geom. 143 The coarseness or fineness of the canvass.

1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 268 Fineness of structure in the body..renders it capable of the most delicate sensation.

?1881 Cassell's Techn. Educator II. 158/1 The degree of fineness to which this grinding is carried varies.

1908 Illinois State Geol. Bull. 9 149 Variation in the fineness of grain controls many of the physical and pyrochemical properties exhibited by clays.

1964 Recommended Interim Procedures Measurem. Biol. Oceanogr. (National Acad. Sci.–National Res. Council) vi. 22 The filter itself has an inherent resistance which increases with the fineness of the mesh.

2003 S. Vincent Dressing Elite ii. 53 For both [linen and skin], the index of beauty and desirability was fineness of texture and whiteness of appearance.

8. Of the weather, a day, etc.: the quality or fact of being bright and clear.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > fine weather > [noun] > condition of

fairness1574

brightness1656

fineness1721

high feather1878

1721 E. Ward Merry Travellers: Pt. I 3 My Jolly Friend and I,..Mov'd by the fineness of the Weather, Agreed to take a Trip together.

1779 Mirror No. 27 The fineness of the night made us extend our walk.

1887 A. C. Yate Eng. & Russia 251 The cloudless starry sky we saw last night was a harbinger of to-day's fineness.

1910 A. E. Henderson et al. tr. G. de Maupassant Bel-ami x. 183 One evening toward the end of June,..the fineness of the evening inspired him with a wish for a drive.

2008 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 16 Dec. b13 Then he..remarked upon the fineness of the weather and walked up the hill and away.

Compounds

fineness ratio n. chiefly Aeronautics the ratio of the length of an aircraft fusilage (or in extended use, any streamlined body) to its maximum width.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > qualities and parameters of aircraft > [noun] > ratio of length to diameter

fineness ratio1912

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel with reference to qualities or attributes > [noun] > attributes of vessel > greatest width > ratio of length to width

fineness ratio1912

1912 Techn. Rep. Advisory Comm. Aeronautics 1911–12 58 With a view to deciding upon the best fineness ratio for a non-rigid airship, the same calculation has been made for the case of constant net lift.

1952 Flying Mag. Feb. 52/1 The fuselage of the Tu-12 is circular in cross section and of a moderately high fineness ratio.

2008 Integrative & Compar. Biol. 48 791/2 An indicator of the degree of streamlining is the fineness ratio.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	fineness
释义	finenessn. Brit. /ˈfʌɪnnəs/, U.S. /ˈfaɪ(n)nəs/ Forms: 1500s finenes, 1500s fynenes, 1500s fynenesse, 1500s–1700s finenesse, 1600s– fineness; also Scottish pre-1700 finnes, pre-1700 fynnes. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: fine adj., -ness suffix. Etymology: < fine adj. + -ness suffix. Compare earlier finesse n. and discussion at that entry. 1. a. Superior quality; excellence; perfection. Also in weakened use: admirable nature or quality; merit; distinction. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] goodnessOE mund?c1250 daintethc1290 bountyc1300 daintyc1300 excellencec1384 virtuea1393 excellency?a1400 nobilitya1400 meritc1425 singularity?c1450 fineness1523 admirationa1533 rareness1545 rightness1561 rariety1566 rarity1566 excellentness1569 beautya1586 admirableness1607 primeness1611 gallantry1650 eximiety1656 optimity1656 altesse1660 unexceptionableness1669 excellingness1701 quality1803 sterlingness1815 stupendosity1828 goodliness1832 superbness1832 unexceptionability1837 sweetness and light1867 class1884 rortiness1885 rippingness1903 superstardom1928 motherfucker1977 awesomeness1998 1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng iii. f. 3 The fynenesse of the grasse. 1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Love in W. W. Skeat Chaucerian & Other Pieces (1897) 92 Margaryte..sheweth in it-selfe, by fynenesse of colour, whether [etc.]. 1569 R. Grafton Chron. I. 385 For the richenesse thereof, and for the excellency and finenesse of the workemanship, the Frenche king ware it aboute his necke. 1610 R. Gibbons tr. L. de la Puente Meditat. Myst. Holy Faith ii. 2 The mysteries of the Passion, wherein our Sauiour Christe discouered the finenesse of his loue. a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Hants. 2 They [sc. Swine] lodge at liberty,..which some assign the reason of the fineness of their flesh. 1736 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer II. viii. 46 That Malt is esteemed best..which for Fineness of Colour, Strength and Taste, exceeds all others. 1776 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad x. 453/2 The island of Barem..is celebrated for the plenty, variety and fineness of its diamonds. 1819 Examiner 16 May 306/2 What is to be said for any true fineness of nature in a prince, who would do away the noblest improvements merely because an enemy had set him the example? 1881 Athenæum 19 Feb. 271 Nor does the morbidezza which distinguishes every line of its perfect contours and characterizes all of them detract from the fineness of the whole. 1927 W. Cather Let. 2 June in L. B. Bohlke W. Cather in Person 181 Even very stupid young people addicted to cheap rhetoric are yet capable of perceiving fineness, of feeling it very poignantly. 1976 D. Menzel Pottery Style & Society Anc. Peru iv. 122/1 Only some of the musical instruments of Ica approach the Chincha-Inca bowls in fineness of manufacture. 2010 Hobart (Tasmania) Mercury (Nexis) 5 Mar. 34 Glenn James said he thought Tasmania had the potential to produce chardonnays with a fineness unmatched anywhere else in the country. †b. concrete. Articles of good quality. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > [noun] > good thing > collectively fineness1579 1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 52 Suche other like costly furniture and finenes. 2. a. The extent or degree to which a metal (esp. gold or silver) is pure.In later use typically expressed as the number of parts per thousand of pure metal. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > qualities of metals > [noun] > fineness or purity toucha1325 finesse1424 finance1473 fineness1532 purity1550 perfection1585 society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > alloy > [noun] > alloy of precious metals > proportion of gold or silver in alloy fineness1790 1532–3 in D. H. Fleming Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (1921) II. 208/2 For the quhilk fynnes and wecht the maister of cunȝe and assayour sal be haldin to ansuer. 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. viii. f. 38 The golde wherof they are made, is natiue, and of much lyke finenes to that wherof the florenes are coyned. 1638 J. Penkethman Artachthos sig. K4 The finenesse of their Coine, which did farre exceed ours. 1665 Golden Coast or Descr. Guinney iii. 31 They brought from thence at this Voyage, four hundred pound weight and odd of Gold, of two and twenty Carrats, and one grain in fineness. 1740 H. Vans Inq. Nature & Uses of Money 4 These [promissory Notes] must express the Thing promised, as so many Ounces of Silver, Pounds of Iron, of a certain Fineness &c. 1790 W. Nicholson First Princ. Chem. ii. §iii. i. 227 In estimating or expressing the fineness of gold, the whole mass spoken of is supposed to weigh twenty-four carats of twelve grains each. 1809 Tradesman 1 Nov. 389 Cast iron, which yielded better bar iron by the usual processes, is reducible to the same degree of fineness with much less trouble. 1862 G. H. Makins Man. Metall. viii. 144 From numerous examinations of the quality of the fine silver so obtained, the author finds that the average fineness is about 998 parts in the thousand. 1957 Encycl. Brit. II. 555/2 The gold present is reported as so many parts of gold in 1,000 parts of alloy. This is called ‘Fineness’, and British gold coinage is said to be ‘916·6 fine’. 2014 K. Butcher & M. Ponting Metall. Rom. Silver Coinage p. xxiii These early discoveries did not challenge the basic narrative of Roman imperial monetary history as one of almost continuous decline in fineness from the reign of Nero onwards. †b. Of a liquid, esp. a body of water: freedom from turbidity or impurity; clearness. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > liquid > [noun] > qualities of liquid > purity or clearness finesse1463 fineness1633 limpidity1656 limpidness1664 1633 A. Munday et al. Stow's Surv. of London (new ed.) 17/2 The Land-flouds also doe greatly staine the finenesse of the streame. 1657 J. Howell Londinopolis 13 The finenesse of the River. 1664 P. Neil in J. Evelyn Pomona in Sylva 36 Broach the Vessel..and see what fineness it is of. 3. The quality or fact of being very small in diameter or thickness; slenderness, thinness; (with reference to a point or edge) sharpness. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > sharpness of edge or point > [noun] sharpnessc725 keenness1530 fineness?1537 acuity1598 acuteness1642 eagerness1831 the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > slenderness > [noun] fineness?1537 slendernessa1538 finesse1551 tenuity1578 gracility1623 gracileness1727 exility1750 attenuity1830 ?1537 T. Elyot Castell of Helthe ii. ii. f. 17 By fourme is vnderstand grossenes, fynenesse, thyckenesse, or thynnesse. 1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xi. 201 A Screw, whose Thread shall be of the same fineness that the Screw and the Shank is of. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Silver Silver-Wire, is Silver drawn thro' the Holes of a Wire-drawing-Iron, and by this Means reduced to the Fineness of a Thread or Hair. 1780 A. Young Tour Ireland (Dublin ed.) I. 324 The grist or fineness of the yarn, determines the set or fineness of the reed through which it is to be wrought. 1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. xix. 357 The glue or gum, being passed through these minute apertures, forms hairs of almost imperceptible fineness. 1878 Young Scientist Jan. 24/1 Cutting instruments act by reason of the fineness of the edge which enters the material. 1928 R. B. Dixon Building of Cultures vi. 202 In fineness of thread spun, their only known competitors were the Indian weavers of the famous Dacca muslins. 1958 J. E. Davies Introd. Tool Marks, Firearms & Striagraph xi. 196 The ability of a tracing stylus to detect or resolve fine striae depends almost entirely upon the fineness of the point. 2010 W. Steen & J. Mazumder Laser Material Processing (ed. 4) xi. 471 Wire stripping for ultrasound equipment, endoscopes and heart pacemakers poses a problem owing to the extreme fineness of the wire. †4. Shrewdness, astuteness; adroitness in deceit or evasion; cunning, craftiness. Also: a clever or devious stratagem, a ploy. Obsolete (rare after early 18th cent.).Cf. finesse n. 2, 4a. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > cunning > [noun] > a wile or cunning device wrenchc888 craftOE turnc1225 ginc1275 play?a1300 enginec1300 wrenkc1325 forsetc1330 sleightc1340 knackc1369 cautel138. subtletya1393 wilea1400 tramc1400 wrinkle1402 artc1405 policy?1406 subtilityc1410 subtiltyc1440 jeopardy1487 jouk1513 pawka1522 frask1524 false point?1528 conveyance1534 compass1540 fineness1546 far-fetch?a1562 stratagem1561 finesse1562 entrapping1564 convoyance1578 lift1592 imagine1594 agitation1600 subtleship1614 artifice1620 navation1628 wimple1638 rig1640 lapwing stratagem1676 feint1679 undercraft1691 fly-flap1726 management1736 fakement1811 old tricka1822 fake1829 trickeration1940 swiftie1945 shrewdie1961 the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > cunning > [noun] > astuteness yepshipc1000 yepleȝȝcc1175 yephedea1250 slyness1357 far-castingc1400 policyc1440 far-castc1540 fineness1546 astucec1550 shrewdnessa1616 arguteness1662 cuteness1768 smartness1800 astucity1837 astuteness1843 Yorkshiredom1849 flyness1888 shrewd1977 sus1979 1546 in State Papers Henry VIII (1852) XI. 374 He said that the fynenesse of the Frenchemen was suche, that they wold gyve a thowsande to wynne a myllion. 1581 T. Howell His Deuises sig. I.iij Your curious hed may finenesse [printed fiuenesse] frame. 1654 J. Cleveland Idol of Clownes (new ed.) 94 By this finenesse they are gained to quit the gates. 1663 J. Heath Flagellum (1672) 55 For his party had tryed all ways to over-reach the Presbyterean with fineness and Artifice. 1685 H. More Cursory Refl. Pref. sig. A1 Against all the Finenesses of Rome. 1713 R. Steele in Guardian 30 Sept. 2/1 Nor shall I speak dishonourably of some little Artifice and Finenesse used upon these Occasions. 1872 Ld. Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 83 And so fill up the gap where force might fail With skill and fineness. 5. Striking or attractive appearance; beauty, splendour. With reference to dress: elegance; showiness. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [noun] > fine or dignified appearance fineness1553 the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > splendour > [noun] > fine or gay appearance gaynessc1443 show1539 fineness1553 bravery1573 brave1596 gaudiness1601 gallantry1613 gaiety1625 blow1710 the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > [noun] > qualities of disguisinessc1386 threadbareness1530 lustinessa1547 tricksinessc1550 niceness1559 trickness1600 quaintness1603 fineness1667 overdress1781 fullness1792 succinctness1818 dowdiness1843 dowdyism1859 gauziness1873 floppiness1892 1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Bv^v The chiefe cytie..is in situacion and fynenes, much lyke vnto the cytie of Milayne. 1569 A. Golding tr. N. Hemmingsen Postill f. 192^v The cause of this Gluttons damnation are not his riches, and the finenesse of his apparell. 1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety v. 87 The fineness of Cloaths destroys the ease. 1674 P. Talbot Friar Disciplind 147 The Deuil will not in the last hour inueigh so much against you for..the fineness of your dress. 1719 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (ed. 7) p. xxv The beauty and fineness of the Trees. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones VI. xvi. v. 46 He greatly admired the Fineness of the Dresses. View more context for this quotation 1849 E. H. Melville & C. Norton Resid. at Sierra Leone xxxix. 328 Naval storehouses and fortifications..add to the fineness of the landscape formed by the islands, trees, hills, and fields. 1876 L. Rousselet India & its Native Princes (rev. ed.) xvii. 211 If you admire the front for its grandeur and the fineness of its ornaments, the interior will astonish you by its magnificence. 1922 C. Harris Eyes of Love ii. 35 It was the girlish delicacy of his skin, the sober fineness of his clothes that concealed his real quality. 2013 H. L. Reid Pretty Dark Nothing xxi. 198 Marcus glanced over at Beth. ‘Man, I don't know how you can resist such fineness.’ 6. a. Subtle or elegant refinement, esp. of speech or thought; discernment; subtlety; delicacy. Also: a refined thought, action, etc.Cf. finesse n. 5a. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > delicacy of subtletya1450 subtility1494 election1531 fineness1561 finesse1564 delicacy1678 subtlety1728 nicety1780 subtleness1872 1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer i. sig. f.iiii If this Courtyer speake w^t suche finenesse & grauity among vs, there wil be some y^t wil not vnderstand him. 1577 H. Peacham Garden of Eloquence Ep. sig. A.ij^v Many..affect fynenesse of speeche, and neglect the knowledge of thinges. 1607 R. C. in tr. H. Estienne World of Wonders To Rdr. sig. A4 The finenesse, fitnesse, and featnesse of the phrase. a1616 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida (1623) i. iii. 209 Those that with the finenesse [1609 finesse] of their soules, By Reason guide his execution. 1654 Bp. J. Taylor Real Presence 205 It were a finenesse of Spirit to be able to believe the two parts of a contradiction. 1690 W. Temple Ess. Anc. & Mod. Learning in Wks. (1731) I. 167 That Language [sc. the French] has much more Fineness and Smoothness at this Time. 1709 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions Pref. p. xxiv The Softness of Her Sex, and the Fineness of her Genius, conspire to give her a very distinguishing Character. 1780 F. Burney Jrnl. Apr. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (2003) IV. 82 He..played with a fineness that..resembled the man we looked at at Piozzi's Benefit. 1856 D. Masson Ess. Biogr. & Crit. x. 452 Those peculiar finenesses and flights of intellectual activity which are native to verse. 1883 R. Broughton Belinda II. ii. ix. 145 The Professor, though not at all deaf, has no longer that fineness of hearing which is spared to few of us after forty. 1913 F. H. Burnett T. Tembarom xx. 258 His reverence for her little finenesses and reserves increased instead of wearing away. 1930 E. F. Benson As we Were iii. 38 In a brusquer age..we are apt to think that such a fineness of speech and of bearing denote insincerity. 2006 Guardian (Nexis) 24 June 20 He has the fineness of judgment that James himself thought indispensable for such work [sc. literary criticism]. b. A subtle point or matter; a nicety; a nuance. Apparently only in plural. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > subtle point subtletya1425 subtilityc1485 jimp?a1500 nicety1589 nicery1605 fineness1622 pointille1626 measuring cast1631 criticisma1640 exility1642 subtilty1681 quoddity1682 nuance1781 distinguo1895 1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. ii. 17 Thinking that..there was no need of these finenesses and niceties betweene them. 1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge i. 10 Lost in the finenesses of words. 1727 R. Acherley Britannic Constit. ix. 555 Both Sides proceeded with such artificial Finenesses, as were never likely to end in any real or sincere Compliance. 1775 F. Spilsbury Treat. Method curing Gout (ed. 3) iii. 60 Its [sc. mercury] great and salutary effects on animal bodies may be readily explain'd and render'd intelligible, without running into finenesses and subtleties. 1833 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 276/1 Niceties and finenesses like these, are tests to try the skill of translators. 1890 J. H. Stirling Philos. & Theol. v. 83 Leaving all such finenesses aside, we may limit ourselves to the distinct avowal on Aristotle's part, [etc.]. 1962 G. Wescott Images Truth vii. 203 These finenesses, revelations of nature and human nature, each in terms of the other..have not been Mann's chief claim to fame. 2009 T. Sen in W. Shakespeare Macbeth 175 Hanmer's attempt to reduce the number of short lines in this extract made havoc of all these finenesses of the Folio text. 7. The quality or fact of being composed of fine particles, filaments, or threads; delicacy of structure or texture. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > other specific kinds of texture > [noun] > fine texture finesse1551 fineness1576 1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 198 This Ilande was long since greatly esteemed, eyther for the number of the Sheepe, or for the finenesse of the fleese. 1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 182 Taffataes of transparant finenesse. 1688 J. Harrison Let. 9 Sept. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) VI. 269 The Hartfordshire wheat..is Hunted out by all the Bakers in London for the fineness and whiteness of the flower. 1715 R. Thoresby Ducatus Leodiensis 483 A Piece of Point-work Lace, (wrought by the Nuns) of incredible fineness. ?1770 J. Warltire Conc. Ess. Philos. & Chem. Subj. 51 Fluor spar reduced to the fineness of coarse sand. 1840 D. Lardner Treat. Geom. 143 The coarseness or fineness of the canvass. 1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 268 Fineness of structure in the body..renders it capable of the most delicate sensation. ?1881 Cassell's Techn. Educator II. 158/1 The degree of fineness to which this grinding is carried varies. 1908 Illinois State Geol. Bull. 9 149 Variation in the fineness of grain controls many of the physical and pyrochemical properties exhibited by clays. 1964 Recommended Interim Procedures Measurem. Biol. Oceanogr. (National Acad. Sci.–National Res. Council) vi. 22 The filter itself has an inherent resistance which increases with the fineness of the mesh. 2003 S. Vincent Dressing Elite ii. 53 For both [linen and skin], the index of beauty and desirability was fineness of texture and whiteness of appearance. 8. Of the weather, a day, etc.: the quality or fact of being bright and clear. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > fine weather > [noun] > condition of fairness1574 brightness1656 fineness1721 high feather1878 1721 E. Ward Merry Travellers: Pt. I 3 My Jolly Friend and I,..Mov'd by the fineness of the Weather, Agreed to take a Trip together. 1779 Mirror No. 27 The fineness of the night made us extend our walk. 1887 A. C. Yate Eng. & Russia 251 The cloudless starry sky we saw last night was a harbinger of to-day's fineness. 1910 A. E. Henderson et al. tr. G. de Maupassant Bel-ami x. 183 One evening toward the end of June,..the fineness of the evening inspired him with a wish for a drive. 2008 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 16 Dec. b13 Then he..remarked upon the fineness of the weather and walked up the hill and away. Compounds fineness ratio n. chiefly Aeronautics the ratio of the length of an aircraft fusilage (or in extended use, any streamlined body) to its maximum width. ΘΚΠ society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > qualities and parameters of aircraft > [noun] > ratio of length to diameter fineness ratio1912 society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel with reference to qualities or attributes > [noun] > attributes of vessel > greatest width > ratio of length to width fineness ratio1912 1912 Techn. Rep. Advisory Comm. Aeronautics 1911–12 58 With a view to deciding upon the best fineness ratio for a non-rigid airship, the same calculation has been made for the case of constant net lift. 1952 Flying Mag. Feb. 52/1 The fuselage of the Tu-12 is circular in cross section and of a moderately high fineness ratio. 2008 Integrative & Compar. Biol. 48 791/2 An indicator of the degree of streamlining is the fineness ratio. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1523
随便看	to strike a bum note to strike a bustle to strike a docket to strike a good stroke to strike a hag in the post to strike a hag into the post to strike a hard bargain to strike a hull to strike a light to strike a line (also path to strike a medical etc off the register to strike a medical practitioner off the register to strike a name off or now rarely out of to strike a name off or out of to strike a person a blow to strike a person between the eye to strike a person between the eyes to strike a person in the eye to strike a person in the eyes to strike a person luck to strike a prisoner in the boots to strike a rough patch to strike a sticky patch to strike a stroke to strike a tinder