Fine sb.¹

Forms: 3 fin, 3–6 fyn(e, 3– fine. [ME. fin, a. OF. fin = Pr. fin-s. fi-s, Sp. fin, Pg. fim, It. fine:—L. fīnem, fīnis end.

  In med. L. and OF. the word has the senses ‘ending of a dispute, settlement, payment by way of composition’; hence the various applications in branch II.]

  I.  End. (Obs. exc. in phr. in fine.)

  † 1.  Cessation, end, termination, conclusion, finish. Phr. to bring to fine, set the fine of. Obs.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 258. Pine wiðute fin.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 8547. Þis stalwarde cristine volc · þis worre broȝte to fine.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., A. 634.

c. 1460.  Pol. Rel. & L. Poems, 73.

c. 1500.  Lancelot, 1387.

1560.  Rolland, The Court of Venus, III. 724.

1601.  Shaks., All’s Well that ends Well, IV. iv. 35.

1664.  Flodden F., i. 2. A lucky fine and end to make.

1839.  Bailey, Festus, xxx. (1848), 348.

  b.  Phrase, In († the) fine; also rarely † a, † at, † of fine): † (a) in the end, at last; (b) to conclude or sum up, finally; also, in short.

  (a)  1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 91. Þe noble Constantyn, (þat was kyng here of þis lond, & emperour atte fyn).

c. 1450.  Merlin, 286. But in the fyn he mote yeve grounde a litill.

c. 1540.  R. Morice, in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden), 24. In fyne he was perceyved to affixe one of the papers apon the dore of the churche.

1575.  J. Still, Gamm. Gurton, V. ii., in Hazl., Dodsley, III. 246. My cock is, I thank Christ, safe and well a-fine.

1693.  Mem. Ct. Teckely, I. 41 In fine after a Months obstinate defence … the Turks took the Fort by assault.

  (b)  1401.  Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 91.

1550.  Crowley, Epigr., 915.

1649.  Milton, Eikon., Wks. 1738, I. 408. In fine, he accuses Piety with the want of Loyalty, and Religion with the breach of Allegiance, as if God and he were one Master, whose commands were so often contrary to the commands of God.

a. 1704.  T. Brown, A Satyr upon the French King, Wks. 1730, I. 60.

1849.  Ruskin, Seven Lamps, vii. § 8. 195. We have, in fine, attained the power of going fast from one place to another.

  † c.  The latter part (of time), close. Obs.

c. 1400.  The Sowdone of Babyloyne, 304.

1599.  Hakluyt, Voy., II. I. 200. The new Cairo answereth euery yeere in tribute to the grand Signior, 600000 ducates of golde, neat and free of all charges growing on the same, which money is sent to Constantinople, about the fine of September, by the way of Aleppo, alwayes by lande, vnder the custodie of three hundred horsemen, and two hundred Ianizaries footmen.

1615.  G. Sandys, Trav., 101. Their Dates do grow like fingers, and are thereof named: not ripe untill the fine of December, which begin to cod about the beginning of February.

  † 2.  End of life, decease, death. To do, take (one’s) fine: to die. Obs.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3851.

a. 1300.  Floriz & Bl., 441.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 3905 (Cott.).

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 189. Or I ȝit do my fyn.

c. 1330.  Assump. Virg. (Add. MS.), 777.

1494.  Fabyan, Chron. II. xxxi. 24. I haue here shewed vnto you, the fyne or ende of Brennius.

1548.  Hall, Chron., 151 b. Choked and brought to his fatall fine.

1556.  Lauder, Tractate, 209.

  † 3.  The extreme part or limit of anything; a boundary. Also fig. extreme case, extremity. Obs.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 23199 (Gött.).

c. 1400.  Rom. Rose, 1558. Of the welle, this is the fyn.

1586.  J. Hooker, Girald. Irel., in Holinshed, II. 135/2. Vpon the fines and marches in Ulster.

1596.  Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot. (1885), 114. Our king nevir to that fine, at ony tyme to haue beine brocht, that he walde want.

1859.  I. Taylor, Logic in Theol., 139. Bring down each to a mean level—a degree or two below the ‘settled fine’ to which each aspires to rise.

  † 4.  End in view, aim, purpose, object; esp. in phr. to what fine. Hence, the purpose for which a thing exists. Obs.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, II. 745. To what fine is soche loue, I can not seen. Ibid. (c. 1386), Merch. T., 862. Sche knew eek the fyn of his entent.

1413.  Lydg., Pilgr. Sowle, IV. xx. (1483), 65.

1533.  Bellenden, Livy, I. (1822), 38. To schaw to quhat fine thay war cummin.

1562.  Winȝet, Cert. Tractates, iii. Wks. 1888, I. 31. For thair abusing of the samyn to ane vther fine, than He [God] institute tham?

1603.  Dekker, etc. Patient Grissell (1841), 42. One fine be now to apparel all these former in some light sarcenet robe of truth.

  † 5.  Final issue, consequence, result. Obs.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, IV. Proloug, 130.

1549.  Compl. Scot., x. 84. Pirrus kyng of eporite, that past to the oracle of appollo til inquyre of the fyne of the veyris that vas betuix hym and the romanis.

1605.  Lond. Prodigal, III. ii. If I cannot then make my way, nature hath done the last for me; and there’s the fine.

  II.  6. Law. A ‘final agreement’; ‘an amicable composition or agreement of a suit, either actual or fictitious, by leave of the king or his justices’ (Blackstone).

[1299.  Act 27 Edw. I., c. 1. Quia Fines in Curia nostra levati finem litibus debent imponere et imponunt, & ideo fines vocantur, maxime cum post duellum & magnam assisam in suo casu ultimum locum & finalem teneant & perpetuum.)

  b.  spec. The compromise of a fictitious or collusive suit for the possession of lands: formerly in use as a mode of conveyance in cases where the ordinary modes were not available or equally efficacious.

  The procedure was as follows. The person to whom the land was to be conveyed sued the holder for wrongfully keeping him out of possession; the defendant (hence called the cognizor) acknowledged the right of the plaintiff (or cognizee); the compromise was entered on the records of the court; and the particulars of it were set forth in a document called the foot of the fine (see FOOT). This method of conveyance was resorted to by married women (who could not alienate land by any other process), and as a means of barring an entail. The cognizor was said to acknowledge or levy a fine; sometimes the vb. to levy was used intrans. with fine as the subject. Also to sue a fine.

[12[?].  Bracton, De Legibus Angliæ, V. IV. viii. § 3. VI. 70. Item sufficit finis factus in curia domini regis [etc.].

1292.  Britton, II. iii. § 14. Par acord del purchaceour et del donour covendra lever fin en nostre court.]

1483.  Act 1 Rich. III., c. 7 § 1. Notes and fynes to be levied in the Kinges Court … shold be openly and solempnly radd.

1509–10.  Act 1 Hen. VIII., c. 19, Pream. Your said Oratour … levyed severall Fynes of all the foresaid Manours.

1602.  Shaks., Ham., V. 1. 114. His Statutes, his Recognizances, his Fines, his double Vouchers, his Recoueries.

a. 1626.  Bacon, Max. & Uses Com. Law (1635), 51. A Fine is a reall agreement, beginning thus, Hæc est finalis concordia, &c.

1751.  Lady Luxborough, Lett. to Shenstone (1775), 281. A Lawyer … to see me execute a fine, in consequence of my parting with my house in London.

1773.  E. Bonhote, Rambles Mr. Frankly (1797), I. 81. He forbade me his house, sued a fine, and cut me off with a shilling.

1818.  Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), VI. 138. A fine was levied accordingly.

  † c.  Hence used gen. for: A contract, agreement.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 106. Sir Henry mad þe fyne, and mad þe mariage.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. II. 50.

  III.  A composition paid.

  7.  a. Feudal Law. A fee (as distinguished from the rent) paid by the tenant or vassal to the landlord on some alteration of the tenancy, as on the transfer or alienation of the tenant-right, etc. b. Mod. Law. A sum of money paid by a tenant on the commencement of his tenancy in order that his rent may be small or nominal.

c. 1435.  Torrent of Portugal, 1086.

1523.  Fitzherb., Surv., Prol. To cause them to pay more rent or a gretter fyne than they haue ben acustomed to do in tyme past.

1625.  Act 1 Chas. I., c. 2 § 1. His Majestie having received divers Fines and sommes of Mony, according to the said Contracts.

1710.  Prideaux, Orig. Tithes, ii. 82. Reckoning in their Fines as well as their Rents.

1818.  Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), I. 351. Where a fine is certain, the tenant is bound to pay it immediately upon his admittance.

1862.  Ld. Brougham, Brit. Const., x. 138. The fines paid by his vassals on succession to or alienation of their fees.

1877.  Act 40 & 41 Vict., c. 18 § 4. On every such lease shall be reserved the best rent … that can be reasonably obtained … without taking any fine or other benefit in the nature of a fine.

  8.  † a. In phr. To make (a) fine: to make one’s peace, settle a matter, obtain exemption from punishment or release from captivity, esp. by means of a money payment. Obs. exc. Hist.

1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 511.

c. 1325.  Coer de L., 3347.

c. 1325.  English Metrical Homilies, 46.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 15965.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 184. It is liȝttere to make a fyn for moche money þan to purge hym.

1422.  J. Yonge, Privytye, 204. And there this M^cMahons, with dyuers othyr enemys, fynes with hym makid, pees forto haue.

1574.  in W. H. Turner, Select Rec. Oxford, 351. Richard Lloyde, taylo^r, shall make fyne for his contemptuous and approbryos wo^rdes towards George Mondaye, merser.

1891.  Northumb. Assize Rolls (Surtees), Preface, p. xxv. The matter in the end appears to be settled by the Swethops making a fine with Dionisia for 20 marks, and with the King for 100s.

  † b.  A sum of money offered or paid for exemption from punishment or by way of compensation for injury. Obs.

[1292.  Britton, I. xii. § 7. Sur peyne de raunceun et de fin.]

a. 1300.  Cursor Mundi, 6753 (Trin.).

1628.  Earle, Microcosm., Meere Gull Citizen (Arb.), 94. A harsh scholemaster, to whom he is alleaging still the weakenes of the boy, and payes a fine extraordinary for his mercy.

  c.  A certain sum of money imposed as the penalty for an offence. † To put to (one’s) fine: to fine.

1529.  More, Supplic. Soulys, Wks. 296/2. The v. C. poundes whych he payed for a fyne by the premunire.

1542–3.  Act 34–5 Hen. VIII., c. 27 § 84. No persone … for murther or felonie shall be put to his fine, but suffer accordinge to the lawes.

1647.  Clarendon, Hist. Reb., I. (1843), 10/1. He was at last condemned in a great fine to a long and strict imprisonment, and never to sit in parliament during his life.

1719.  W. Wood, Surv. Trade, 303. Which cannot fail of bringing many more to the Church, than is possible by Fines and Imprisonments, Death or Banishment, or any Penal Laws.

1827.  Hallam, Const. Hist. (1876), III. xvii. 327. Fines to the amount of 85,000l., an enormous sum in that kingdom, were imposed on the covenanters.

1861.  M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 47. A blow or an abusive expression subjected the offender to a fine.

  d.  transf. A penalty of any kind. arch. † To pass a fine: fig. to pronounce sentence.

1503.  Hawes, The Example of Virtue, v. 59.

1580.  T. Lupton, Sivqila; too Good to be True, 14. To pay the fine of damnation for euer therefore after his death, in Hell fire, where there is payne without pleasure, sorrow without succour, mourning without measure, and miserie without mercie.

a. 1680.  Butler, Rem. (1759) I. 141.

1697.  Dryden, Æneid, XI. 1222.

1705.  Addison, Italy, 501. Besides the several Fines that are set upon Plays, Games, Balls and Feastings, they have many Customs among them which very much contribute to the keeping up of their ancient Simplicity.

1876.  Blackie, Songs Relig. & Life, 195, ‘A Song of St. Socrates.’

  † 9.  A fee or charge paid for any privilege. Also, probate duty on a will. Obs.

[1422.  E. E. Wills (1882), 51. & soluerunt pro fine iiij^or nobilia.]

1434.  Earl of Oxford, in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. II. I. 110. That the said Shipp, without any fyn or fee to be paid unto you, may have licence, in the worship of God and of Saint James, to make the furst viage unto St. James.

1521.  Bury Wills (Camden), 120. Item to Mr. Miles, for the aquitans at thys cownt makyng in Fornham and for y^e fyne of y^e testament … v s. viij d.

c. 1744.  Parl. Bill, in Hanway, Trav. (1762), I. V. lxxi. 323. All persons, subjects of this realm of England, being mere merchants, above the age of twenty-six years, should be admitted into the freedom of the said company, upon paying a fine of fifty pounds.

  IV.  10. Comb., fine-rolls (= rotuli oblatorum or finium; see quot. 1891); fine-setting vbl. sb., fining, mulcting.

1800.  1st Rept. Public Records, 54. The Fine Rolls.

1853.  Thomas, Handbk. Publ. Rec., 39. The Fine Rolls of King John.

1891.  Scargill-Bird, Guide to Public Records, 35. FINE ROLLS. John to 23 Charles I. The Rolls upon which were entered the sums of money (or other property, such as palfreys, harriers, falcons, &c.) offered to the King by way of oblation or fine for the passing or renewal of charters or grants, and for the enjoyment of lands, offices, wardships, exemptions, liberties, privileges, and other marks of the royal favour, were called Oblata or Fine Rolls. The first of these appellations fell into disuse after the reign of John, the latter only being thenceforward retained.

1657.  Burton’s Diary (1828), II. 17. Mr. Bond. This fine-setting is no breach of privilege; but only in terrorem to them that shall presume to come in, not being qualified.