findjan 
glass or two, or rather cup, for coffee-cups of thin, old 
porcelain, called fingians, served us for wibe-glusat. 
Jt. Curzun, Monast. in the Levant, p. 249. 
findon-haddock, . t$ee finnan-haddock. 
find-spot (find'spot), n. The locality of a find ; 
the place where an object has been found : as, 
the find-spot of these coins is unknown. [Ke- 
cent.] 
When Gen. Cunningham was selecting specimens [of 
sculpture] in the Lahore Museum, to be photographed for 
the Vienna Exhibition, he complains that he could only 
ascertain the "Jind spot" of five or six out of the whole 
number 500 or 600. 
J. Ferguson, Hist. Indian Arch., p. 170, note. 
findyt (fin'di), . [< ME. findig,fundi, heavy, 
weighty (of speech), < AS. *findiy, heavy ("Jin- 
dig corn," heavy corn Lye, no reference); 
cf . ge-findig (gefyndig), capable ; Dan. fyndiu, 
emphatic, pithy, < fynd, emphasis, pith (of 
speech).] 1. Heavy; full; solid; substantial. 
A cold May and a windy 
Makes the barn fat wlfindy. Old proverb. 
2. Weighty ; powerful. 
Bidde we nu the holi gost that he ... giue us swo 
findige speche, that the fewe word the we on lire bede 
seien, be cuthe alle halegen. 
Old Eng. Homilies (ed. Morris), II. 119. 
fine 1 (fin), . [< ME. fin, fyn, end, the end of 
life, a payment in settlement, a fine, < OF. fin, 
F.fin = Pr. fin, fi = Sp. fin = Pg. fim = It. fine, 
< L. finis, limit, boundary, end, ML. also a 
payment in supplement, a fine, orig. *fidnis, 
lit. a parting (nence edge, limit, end), < fin- 
dere (y fid), cleave, separate, = E. bite: see 
bite, and cf. fent. fission, fissure, etc., from the 
same ult. root. Hence ult. (from L. finis) fine^, 
fine 3 , finite, finish, etc.] If. End; termina- 
tion ; conclusion. 
The begynnyng is wel god, * also the fyn. 
St. Edmund the Confessor, 1. 203 (Early Eng. Poems, ed. 
[Furnivall). 
Thei that hadde ther-of the kepynge seide thei sholde 
no ferther passe till thei saugh to what fyn the bateile 
sholde drawe. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 286. 
He may ... be there by the fine of Januarie or before. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 308. 
All 's well that ends well ; still the fine 's the crown ; 
Whate'er the course, the end is the renown. 
Skak., All's Well, iv. 4. 
As soon as they begin, they have their fine. 
Middleton, Solomon Paraphrased, ii. 
Specifically 2f. The end of life ; death. 
Seynt Thomas of ynde [India] thitherward cam 
Also blyue as he myst gan, 
And wolde haue ben at hure/yn* 
3if he inyjt haue come bi tyme. 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.), p. 96. 
Better I love thi lif than thi deth, and thow art come to 
thi fin that knowest thow well. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 629. 
3f. In old Eng. law, a judicial proceeding, often 
fictitious, resorted to merely as a mode of con- 
veyance of land. The persons concerned in the trans- 
fer were made parties to a fictitious action, in which the 
transferrer solemnly acknowledged the land to be the 
property of the transferee, thus by apparent compromise 
putting an end to the suit. It was used very commonly 
as a means of putting an end to an entail. 
This fellow might be in 's time a great buyer of land, 
with his statutes, his recognizances, his fines, his double 
vouchers, his recoveries. Shak., Hamlet, v. 1. 
Fines were a very ancient class of conveyances by mat- 
ter of record, consisting of fictitious suits in the Court 
of Common Pleas, commenced and then compromised by 
leave of the Court. They were called fines because they 
put an end not only to the pretended suit, but also to all 
claims not made within a certain time. 
N. and Q., 7th ser., I. 13. 
4. In feudal law : (a) A final agreement between 
persons concerning lands or rents, or between 
the lord and his vassal prescribing the condi- 
tions on which the latter should hold his lands. 
[Bare.] (6) A sum of money paid by custom 
by a tenant to his lord, nominally as a gratuity, 
and distinct from rent. This custom belongs solely 
to feudal tenures and to those modified by the feudal law, 
as copyholds. Fines were paid usually at a transfer of the 
tenant's estate by alienation or succession, but sometimes 
on other occasions, as at the death of the lord. 
Be thou the Liege, and I Lord Paramount, 
I'll not exact hard fines (as men shall woont). 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., Eden. 
6. The exaction of a money payment as a pun- 
ishment for an offense or a dereliction of any 
kind; amulet: as, a, fine for assault; the fines 
prescribed in the constitution of a society. 
My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a-bleeding, 
But I'll amerce you with so strong &fine 
That you shall all repent the loss of mine. 
Shale., R. and J., iii. 1. 
There is a difference between amerciaments and fines: 
these [that is, the latter], as they are taken for punish- 
ments, are punishments certain, which grow expressly 
from some statute; but amerciaments are arbitrarily im- 
posed by affeerors. Blonut, Law Diet. 
21221 
6. The sum of money so exacted. 
But that also at length they unwillingly yielded unto: 
styling him in their submission by the title of " Protector 
and supreme Head of the English Church," and paying a 
lusty Jine. ,S'/ /.<//, Mnnuriiils, Hen. VIII., all. l.'t:!^. 
7f. An agreement to do something, as in repa- 
ration or restitution ; composition; atonement; 
penance. 
That es at say, to make the /in 
For sin and bring thaim of pin 
To blis. 
Kny. Metrical BmdHaftt. J. Small), p. 46. 
Abolition of Fines and Recoveries Act, an English 
statute of 1833(3 and 4 Win. IV., c. 74) which abolished 
the system of transfer of land by flues and common re- 
coveries, and substituted a simple deed in lieu thereof. 
Chlrographer of fines. See chirographer. Fine with 
proclamations, a fine announced in open court by mak- 
ing proclamation four times in the term at which it was 
levied and four times in each of three succeeding terms. 
This practice was introduced to preclude the mischiefs 
that had resulted from secret fines. Foot Of a fine, in 
old Eng. law, the concluding part of the record of a fine in 
the Common Pleas : so called, it is supposed, not because 
it was tile lower part of the document, but by misinter- 
pretation (as if pied, foot) of the Norman French la pees 
(modern French la paix) that is to say, the peace, or 
final concord or agreement, between the parties. In fine. 
(rtt) In the end ; at last ; finally. 
Condemned persons haue a pillora-boord fastened about 
their neck, . . . which boord neither suffereth them well 
to eate or sleep, and in Jine killeth them. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 441. 
He sent me a challenge, mixt with some few braves, 
which I restored, and in fine we met. 
B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, iv. 4. 
(6) In conclusion ; to conclude : to sum up. 
His whole demeanor, in Jine, was truly that of a great 
king. Prcscott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 24. 
Statute of Fines, an English statute of 1540, the effect 
of which was that a fine levied with proclamations, by a 
person of full age, would bar an entail. 
fine 1 (fin), v. ; pret. and pp. fined, ppr. fining. 
[< ME. finen, pay a fine: see fine 1 , . The lit. 
sense (expressed in ME. by finisshen, finchen : 
see finish) appears in OF. finir, finer, F. finir, 
etc., < L. finire, end : see finish.} I. trans. If. 
To bring to an end. 
Time's office is to Jine the hate of foes. 
Shale., Lucrece, 1. 936. 
2. To subject to a pecuniary penalty; set a 
fine upon, as by judgment of a court or by any 
competent authority ; punish by fine : as, jurors 
are fined for non-attendance ; absent members 
are fined. 
The nobles hath he fin' A 
For ancient quarrels, and quite lost their hearts. 
SAo*., Rich. II., ii. 1. 
Now they Fine men ten times more than they are worth. 
Selden, Table-Talk, p. 50. 
3f. To pay by way of fine or fee. 
The Londoners fined, in the fifth year of Stephen's reign, 
a hundred marks of silver, that they might have sheriffs 
of their own choosing. S. Dowell, Taxes in England, 1. 26. 
4f. To pledge ; pawn. 
What means this, herald? know'st thou not 
That I haveymW these bones of mine for ransom? 
Com'st thou again for ransom? Shak., Hen. V., iv. 7. 
5f. To condemn; pronounce judgment against. 
Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it? . . . 
Mine were the very cipher of a function 
To Jine the faults, whose fine stands in record, 
And let go by the actor. Shak., M. for M., ii. 2. 
II. intrans. If. To come to an end; end; 
cease. 
Hire sorege [sorrows] ne hire pine 
Ne migte neure fine. 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.), 1. 262. 
Then wold they never fine 
To don of gentillesse the faire office. 
Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 280. 
2. To pay a fine ; procure acknowledgment of 
one's right or claim by pecuniary compensa- 
tion. [Rare.] 
In England women, and even men, simply as tenants in 
chief, and not as wards, fined to the crown for leave to 
marry whom they would, or not to be compelled to marry 
other. Ilallam, Middle Ages, II. 
fine 2 (fin), a. [< ME. fin, fyn, fine = D. fijn = 
MLG. fin, phm = MHG. rin,fin, G. fein = Icel. 
finn = Sw. fin = Dan. fin, < OF. fin = Pr. fin 
= Sp. Pg. It. fino t fine, minute, exact (ML. 
finus, fine, pure, perfect), prob. (with shifting 
of accent and contraction) < L. finitus, lit. fin- 
ished (used as an adj. by Cicero, of words, well 
rounded), pp. of finire, limit, bound, define, 
terminate, finish, < finis, a limit, end: see finel, 
and cf. finite, finish.] 1. In general, finished; 
consummate ; perfect in form or quality ; pol- 
ished, adroit, in manner or action; delicate, 
slender, minute, thin, rare, in size, proportion, 
or consistence : opposed to coarse, gross, crude, 
rough, unfinished, etc. [Fine, owing to its very gen- 
fine 
eral primary sense (' finished'), and to the wide range in 
literary and colloquial use of its particular applications. 
luis assumed a great variety of shades of meaning. Like 
nice, it is much used colloquially as a mere token of ap- 
proval, without precise significance. Like that also, espe- 
cially with reference to persons or their doings, it is often 
used ironically or derisively in an inverted sense: as, a 
ft in' gentleman, for an ostentatious pretender; Jine writ- 
ing, for a showy and pretentious style ; fine words, for 
plausible or deceitful address, as in the 'homely adage, 
' r'in? words butter no parsnips"; that is a fine scheme.) 
Specifically 2. Excellent or perfect in form, 
style, or aspect; beautiful; attractive; showy: 
as, a man of fine appearance ; a fine horse ; a 
fine house or landscape ; a fine display of flags. 
Fine pictures suit in frames as Jine, 
Consistencies a Jewell. 
Jolly Robyn Roughhead (ballad, 1754). 
He seems unconscious that his features are fine, that 
they have a Southern symmetry, clearness, regularity in 
their chiseling. Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, ii. 
3. Exquisite or elegant in manner, action, ap- 
pearance, or use ; making or constituting an at- 
tractive or imposing display ; aiming to please ; 
pleasing; gratifying: as, a fine lady or gentle- 
man; fine feathers make fine birds; fine clothes 
or furniture. 
He was aware of a brave young man, 
As Jine AS Jine might be. 
Robin Hood and Allin A Dale (Child's Ballads, V. 279). 
I will unto Venice, 
To buy apparel 'gainst the wedding day. . . . 
I will be sure my Katharine shall be Jine. 
Shak.,T. of the S., 11. 1. 
By A Jine gentleman I mean a man completely qualified 
as well for the service and good, as for the ornament and 
delight of society. Steele, Guardian, No. 34. 
One that thinkes the grauest Cassocke the best Scholler ; 
and the best Clothes the finest man. 
Bp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, A Vulgar-spirited Man. 
There, with eyes reverentially fixed on Burke, appeared 
the finest gentleman of the age, . . . the chivalrous, the 
high-souled Windham. Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
Woman is fine for her own satisfaction alone. No man 
will admire her the more, no woman will like her the bet- 
ter for it. Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, p. 54. 
4. Perfect or excellent in kind; suitable or ad- 
mirable in character or quality; very fit or 
proper; superior: as, fine roads; fine weather; 
fine sport; a fine entertainment. 
I knowe youre hertes fin and trewe, and that ye wolde in 
nothinge a-gein me not erre. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 616. 
We can show you as fine rivers, and as clear from wood 
or any other incumbrance to hinder an angler, as any you 
ever saw. Cotton, in Walton's Angler, ii. 224. 
The walks are shaded with Orange Trees, of a large 
spreading size, and all of so Jine a growth both for stem 
and head, that one cannot imagine anything more perfect 
in this kind. Maundrell, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 40. 
The hermit . . . 
Told him that her fine care had saved his life. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
[Used in Great Britain of any weather not actually stormy. 
The following morning was gloomy but fine, and after 
breakfast the vicar and Elsmere started off. 
Mrs. II. Ward, Robert Elsmere, ix.] 
5. Of exquisite quality; refined; choice; ele- 
gant; delicate; dainty: as, & fine compliment; 
a fine wine; fine workmanship; fine texture; 
fine manners. 
Re-enter Ariel, like a water-nymph. 
Pro. Fine apparition ! Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 
Recommended by the charm 
Of fine demeanour. Wordsworth, Excursion, vi. 
Plenty of fine words had been bestowed, which might or 
might not have meaning. Motley, Dutch Republic, III. 47. 
But his [Emerson's] special, constitutional word is fine, 
meaning something like dainty, as Shakspeare uses it 
"my dainty Ariel," "fine Ariel." 
O. W. Holmes, Emerson, p. 405. 
He gratified them with occasional . . . fine writing. 
M. Arnold. 
6. Attracting pleased or interested attention ; 
admirable ; notable ; remarkable ; striking : of- 
ten ironical: as, someone day you will discover 
your mistake. 
What did you mean by that same handkerchief you gave 
me even now ? I was a fine fool to take it. 
Shak., Othello, iv. 1. 
That same knave, Ford, her husband, hath the finest 
mad devil of jealousy in him . . . that ever governed 
frenzy. Shak., M. W. of W., v. 1. 
At what a ///"- pass is the Kingdom, that must depend 
in greatest exigencies upon the fantasie of a Kings rea- 
son, be hee wise or foole. Milton, Eikonoklastes, xi. 
Of course I admit that there is something fine in the 
contempt or indifference he seems to have for anything 
that may happen to him in this world. 
If. Black, In Far Lochaber, xxiv. 
"You are going to Harborough yourself, I suppose?" 
asks Peggy. . . . " How can I tell ? Do I ever know where 
I may drift to? I may wake up there some fine morning." 
R. Brovyhton, Doctor Cupid, xv. 
7. Expert in knowledge or action; accom- 
plished; skilled or skilful ; adroit; apt; handy: 
