refinev.

Brit.

/rᵻˈfʌɪn/, U.S.

/rəˈfaɪn/,

/riˈfaɪn/

Forms: 1500s–1700s refyne, 1500s– refine.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: re- prefix, fine v.³

Etymology: < re- prefix + fine v.³ Compare Catalan refinar (1575), Spanish refinar (first half of the 16th cent.), Portuguese refinar (1589), all with a range of senses similar to the English word, and compare also post-classical Latin refinire to separate metal from (ore) (c1295 in a British source), Middle French refiner to refine (sugar) (a1469).Compare Middle French, French raffiner to free (a substance) form impurities (1519), to make fine or delicate (1600; < re- re- prefix + affiner affine v.), which replaced Middle French refiner (see above), and the similarly formed Italian raffinare (a1276 as rafinare). Compare also the following apparently isolated borrowing of French raffiner:1551 T. Raynald tr. A. Vesalius Compend. Declar. Vertues Oile Imperial sig. Eii ^v In this oile the foure elements..by the benefit of nature be so subtiliatid, raffinid, and depurid, that trueli neuer hitherto eni oile hathe ben..more simple, subtile and Aierial.

a. transitive. In general use. To free from impurities; to purify, cleanse; to separate from something base or inferior. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > remove impurities from [verb (transitive)]

mereeOE

spurge1303

fine1340

sendre1340

purea1350

purgec1350

purifya1398

depurea1400

clarifyc1430

expurge1483

defecatec1487

subtiliate1551

refine?1572

neatify1581

distil1599

sublimate1601

sweeten1601

depurate1620

infresh1635

lustre1645

lustrate1653

freshen1710

chasten1715

epurate1799

enchastena1806

dispollute1862

?1572 T. Paynell tr. Treasurie Amadis of Fraunce Ded. sig. ¶.iiij^v As Golde is golde true touchstone tryeth at euerie ryme and season, And dothe refyne the good from bad..So Amadis of worthie fame [etc.].

1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile clxxi His pure part, from worser parts refind.

1601 R. Chester Loves Martyr 61 Our vnpure Sinne by him being full refind.

a1665 K. Digby Jrnl. Voy. to Mediterranean (1868) 40 Because the windes can not refine the aire.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 548 To..raise From the conflagrant mass, purg'd and refin'd, New Heav'ns, new Earth.

1707 I. Watts Hymns & Spiritual Songs ii. 180 Earth and Worms Shall ye must refine this Flesh.

1712 R. Blackmore Creation iii. 135 By the driving Wind The Air from noxious Vapours is refin'd.

1754 Bp. T. Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. i. 30 Its Worship is refined from the Errors and Idolatries of Superstition.

1781 W. Cowper Progress of Error 344 To purge and skim away the filth of vice, That so refined it might the more entice.

1845 Times 19 Mar. 7 The Romish Church taught that after this life there existed a purgatorial fire, in which sins might be purified and refined.

1857 ‘B. Cornwall’ Dramatic Scenes 401 Where the streams Of Poesy refine the brain With sweet thoughts.

1999 Utopian Stud. (Nexis) 1 Jan. 26 Only in Bellamy's utopian Boston is evolution successful as a means of social progress, perpetually refining and purifying ‘the race’.

b. transitive. To purify, clarify, or distil (a substance or product, esp. raw sugar or crude oil), esp. by a series of industrial processes; to make purer or of a finer quality. Occasionally intransitive.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (transitive)] > refine

refine1582

the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > sugar manufacture > [verb (transitive)] > refine

refine1582

1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xix. f. 395^v They must be refined from their waste if they be foule, by letting them often settle in fayre water, after they bee grownd.

1614 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 2) v. xii. 507 The raw Lac is of a darke red colour, but being refined, they make it of all colours.

1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 371 Selling their Sugars unextracted from the Cane to the Venetians, and buying it againe from them after it is refined.

1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 59 Now the Table was furnished with fat things, and with Wine that was well refined .

1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 83 Tho' the Extraction be very gross, it's yet so well refin'd, that it does not, in the least, smell of the Kettle.

1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) I. i. 8 The nitre is thoroughly refined.

1836–41 W. T. Brande Man. Chem. (ed. 5) 1076 It cannot be doubted that much improvement may be made in refining sugar, by the aid of chemistry, so as to produce a larger quantity of refined from raw sugar.

1883 Cent. Mag. July 332/2 The United [Company] stores and transports [oil]; the Standard buys, refines, sells, and exports.

1939 Fortune Nov. 11 Pure Dextrose is derived chiefly from American corn... It is refined in American factories.

1988 Here's Health Apr. 91/2 When flour is refined to make white bread, it loses most of its 20 vitamins and minerals and almost all its fibre.

1998 Good Health Mag. Mar. 56/1 Crystallised salt..has been refined and as a result is transformed into glistening white crystals that can be used in cooking.

2004 A. Thomson Introd. Afr. Polit. (ed. 2) ii. 26 Although it still relies heavily on its cash-crop farming, the Kenyan economy..is particularly successful in refining petroleum products (from imported oil).

†c. transitive. To clear (the spirits, mind, etc.) from dullness; to make clearer or more subtle. Obsolete.With quot. 1605 cf. sense 2b.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > sharpness, shrewdness, insight > penetrate, discern [verb (transitive)] > sharpen

wheta1400

refine1589

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. iii. 4 They came by instinct diuine, and by deepe meditation, and much abstinence (the same assubtiling and refining their spirits) to be made apt to receaue visions.

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. i. 1 Thou glorious Guide..Lift vp my Soule, my drossie spirits refine.

1690 School of Politicks 1 With sober Liquour to refine my Head.

a1704 T. Brown Oration in Praise Drunkenness in Wks. (1707) I. i. 51 Wine..refines the Judgment of the Doctors and make[s] their Opinions most Canonical.

1728 E. Haywood tr. M.-A. de Gomez Belle Assemblée (1732) II. 107 A Relaxation of Thought is certainly a help to the refining it.

†d. transitive. To purify morally; to raise to a higher spiritual state. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > virtue > purity > make pure [verb (transitive)]

cleansec897

shire?c1225

clengea1300

purge1340

purec1350

purifya1393

whitena1400

sprinkle1526

refine1594

simplify1609

sublime1613

purgate1795

revirginize1852

bleach1868

1594 G. Chapman Σκìα Νυκτòς sig. D An argument to rauish and refine An earthly soule, and make it meere diuine.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 63 Tri'd in sharp tribulation, and refin'd By Faith and faithful works.

1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada ii. iv. iii. 131 Blessed souls are there refin'd, and..prepar'd for light.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 257. ¶8 What Actions can express the entire Purity of Thought which refines and sanctifies a virtuous Man?

1775 J. Ryland Contempl. Insufficiency of Reason vii. 21 (heading) Reason is utterly insufficient to..root out vicious inclinations from the soul, and refine and purify the heart.

a. transitive. Metallurgy. To purify or separate (metals) from dross, alloy, or other extraneous matter by removing oxides, carbon, and dissolved gases, generally at high temperature; spec. to convert grey pig iron into white metal, or to purify and otherwise improve steel in the ladle after steel-making. Also: to separate metals from (ore, dross, etc.). Also intransitive.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > refine

fine1340

concoct1555

refine1579

maturate1651

1579 T. Hill tr. L. Fioravanti Ioyfull Iewell xxviii. 21 As in melting or refining metalls [It. si liquefanno i metalli].

1596 W. Raleigh Discoverie Guiana (new ed.) 49 I found in it, his quicksiluer, saltpeter, and diuers things for the triall of mettels, and also the dust of such ore as he had refined.

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. iii. 209 As much quicke-silver as is necessarie to refine their gold and silver.

1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 117 All lead oar dig'd in England hath a proportion of silver mixt with it, but some so little, that it will not quit cost to refine it.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Refining There are two Ways of refining Silver: The one with Lead; the other with Salt-petre.

1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 591 Furnaces for running this ore into pigs..and forges to refine pig-iron into bars.

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1124 The teller silver is refined in quantities of 160 or 170 marcs.

1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron xiii. 246 The loss is greater in refining hot-blast than it is with cold-blast pig-iron.

1924 A. J. Allmand & H. J. T. Ellingham Princ. Appl. Electrochem. (ed. 2) xxiii. 585 The larger double-ring furnaces can certainly refine as well as melt.

1940 G. H. J. Adlam & L. S. Price Higher School Certificate Inorg. Chem. (ed. 2) xxxviii. 333 The crude metal is refined first by liquidation.

1982 G. C. Hill & J. S. Holman Chem. in Context: Lab. Man. & Study Guide 150 This sponge iron is melted in an electric arc furnace where the ‘gangue’ is removed as a liquid slag and the molten metal refined to a suitable steel composition.

2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. xi. 456 By far the most important is the Hall–Héroult process..for producing aluminium from alumina, itself refined from bauxite ore.

b. transitive. figurative and in figurative context.

ΚΠ

1596 E. Spenser Hymne in Honour of Beautie 47 It more faire..it makes, And the grosse matter of this earthly myne Which clotheth it thereafter doth refyne.

1633 J. Ford Broken Heart ii. iii. sig. D4 What heauen Refines mortality from drosse of earth [etc.].

1683 M. Astell Enemies in J. S. Millman & G. Wright Early Mod. Women's Mss. Poetry (2007) 187 You are my Vertues exercise, The usefull Furnace to refine My dross.

1720 R. Welton tr. T. Alvares de Andrade Sufferings Son of God I. xi. 294 When Thou refinest all the Dross, all that is base and Earthly in me by the Fire of Thy Love.

a1800 W. Cowper Epist. to R. Lloyd in Poems (1980) I. 57 Nor needs [he] his genuine ore refine; 'Tis ready polish'd from the mine.

1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake ii. 73 A human tear From passion's dross refined and clear.

1827 J. Keble Christian Year II. lxxiii. 87 The world's rude furnace must thy blood refine.

1871 R. Browning Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau 91 The special gold, whate'er the form it take, Head-work or heart-work, fined and thrice-refined I' the crucible of life.

1995 Sun (Baltimore) 8 Oct. j3/2 He was able to refine their poetic kernels while his colleagues struggled with the dross.

†3. transitive. To polish or purify (a language, composition, etc.); to render in a more cultured or elegant aesthetic style. Obsolete.Now merged with sense 4.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > compose elegantly [verb (transitive)] > refine or make more elegant

file1551

raise1581

refine1582

smooth1667

1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie xii. 76 Other tungs beside the first refined, marking this currant applied the same to their own seuerall writing.

1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. F She heard him so superfine, as if Ephæbus had learnd him to refine his mother tongue.

a1630 F. Moryson in Shakespeare's Europe (1903) v. i. 438 The English tounge..hath beene in late ages excellently refyned and made perfitt for ready and breefe deliuery both in prose and verse.

1634 Malory's Most Anc. Hist. Prince Arthur (title page) The Most Ancient and Valiant History of the Renowned Prince Arthur..newly refined.

1664 J. Playford Brief Introd. Skill Musick (ed. 4) i. 76 Of late years our language is much refined, and so is our Musick.

1700 J. Dryden Fables Pref. sig. *A^v I..resolv'd to put their Merits to the Trial, by turning some of the Canterbury Tales into our Language, as it is now refin'd.

1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 37. ⁋8 They may as well refine the speech as the sentiments of their personages.

1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 925 Let sonneteering Bowles his strains refine.

1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 75 He took the trouble of refining the language of a copy of them which he possessed.

4. transitive. To free (something, as a practice, system, method, product, etc.) from imperfections or defects; to bring to a better state; (now esp.) to make minor changes so as to improve or clarify.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (transitive)] > purify or refine

slick1340

filec1400

polishc1400

burnish1526

polite1535

extirpate1548

purify1548

soften1579

purgea1582

refine1592

mellow1593

civilize1596

rarefy1600

incivilize1603

sublimate1624

alembicate1627

chastise1627

sublime1631

calcine1635

gentilize1635

ennoble1636

subtilize1638

deconcoct1655

sublimizea1729

smooth1762

absterge1817

decrassify1855

sandpaper1890

1592 R. Greene Vision sig. E^v Some thought to amend Nature with Art, and with Apothecaries drugges, to refine that which God had made perfect.

c1670 T. Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws (1840) 5 The law of England..hath been fined and refined by an infinite number of grave and learned men.

a1703 E. Chamberlayne Present State Eng. (1707) iii. iv. 287 King James the Fifth refined the Order of St. Andrew in Scotland.

1708 J. Keill Acct. Animal Secretion Pref. p. xix The whole Practice of Physick by the Invention of many useful Remedies, is so much refined, that [etc.].

1807 T. Young Course Lect. Nat. Philos. I. xxviii. 336 It is easy, by means of rollers,..to refine the head of the pump rod to a rectilinear motion.

1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab viii. 105 Lending their power to pleasure and to pain, Yet raising, sharpening, and refining each.

1899 Contemp. Rev. June 870 We refine the method of stealing, that is all—joint-stock it, and sometimes call it a dividend.

1949 K. Clark Landscape into Art Epil. 133 Numerous methods of representation had been mastered and refined.

1978 E. Cleaver Soul on Fire 84 Over the years, I had refined my own technique of jazzing with the man.

2003 Creativity May 45 The search engine has been refined with new features like a negative search tool.

a. transitive. To free from roughness, coarseness, or crudeness; to imbue with cultivated feelings, instincts, etc.; to make (a person, faculty) more cultured or polished. Also intransitive with object implied.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > refine [verb (transitive)]

refine1592

unvulgarize1811

aestheticize1864

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > humanistic studies > improve the mind, cultivate [verb (transitive)]

till1393

enrich1502

refine1592

cultivate?1631

unblade1633

urbanize1642

smooth1644

culture1677

metropolitanize1870

1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. B3^v They had not the true vse of gentility, and therefore they lived meanely and died obscurely, but now mennes capacities are refined.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 589 Love refines The thoughts, and heart enlarges.

1671 E. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 5) i. ii. 61 The Britains or Welsh more lately refined did not take Surnames till of late years.

1781 W. Cowper Charity 98 Ingenious Art..Steps forth to fashion and refine the race.

1781 W. Cowper Charity 332 All truth is precious,..And what dilates the powers must needs refine.

1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. i. iii. 23 He had sought less to curb, than to refine and elevate her imagination.

1848 L. Hunt Jar of Honey iii. 32 When reproached for carrying off paintings..from Sicily, he said he did it to refine the minds of his countrymen.

1938 ‘S. Smith’ Tender only to One 41 It's nice to get abroad, It quickens and refines.

1979 R. P. Graves A. E. Housman (1981) v. 81 The study of classics might refine a student's literary discrimination.

2005 Irish Univ. Rev. (Nexis) 22 Mar. [My mother's] speech was not as earthen as..that of her brothers and sisters; it was refined by years of schooling with the nuns.

b. intransitive. To become more polished, elegant, or cultured.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > refine [verb (intransitive)]

refinea1640

a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger False One iii. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Rr2/1 Did you live at Court, as I doe (Gallants) You would refine, and learne an apter language.

1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 25 Let a Lord once own the happy Lines, How the Wit brightens! How the Style refines!

1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 45 In proportion as society refines, new books must ever become more necessary.

1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 31 As his years increas'd his taste refin'd.

1921 E. T. Raymond Portraits of Nineties 59 It was, no doubt, a dread of commonness that led him [sc. George Meredith] to refine excessively.

1991 Independent (Nexis) 14 Dec. 39 As their taste refines, jewellery buyers usually turn their attention towards small, delicate things.

6. intransitive. To become purified; to grow clear or free from impurities. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > become free from impurities [verb (intransitive)]

finea1425

refine1604

reclear1615

purify1645

depurate1768

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xiv. 250 The Emeralds grow in stones..and they seeme by little and little to thicken and refine.

1690 J. Norris Christian Blessedness 54 They presen[t]ly began to behave themselves more orderly, and seemed like Gold, to refine upon the Trial of the Furnace.

1713 J. Addison Cato i. vi The pure stream..Works it self clear, and as it runs, refines.

1734 I. Watts Reliquiæ Juveniles xxviii. 111 Let it lie and refine from all the Dregs of Sin and sensual Impurities.

1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 496 That head,..though the thickening dross will scarce refine, Augments its ore, and is itself a mine.

1844 Dict. Trade, Commerce & Navigation at Sugar The impure crust which forms on the upper surface of the pans when the sugar is refining.

1948 Trans. Amer. Foundrymen's Soc. 56 16 A melt..coarsens gradually as time and temperature increase..then begins to refine again with further increases in temperature.

7. transitive. To bring into, raise to, a certain state by purifying or making more subtle, elegant, distilled, etc.

ΚΠ

1608 T. Dekker Dead Tearme sig. F4^v After I was thus fashioned and refined into the ciuill and beautifull shape of a Citty, I began to be courted.

1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 92 Time and experience refined this way of triall into a more excellent condition.

1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub xi. 196 Refining what is Literal into Figure and Mystery.

1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xv. 484 The sensual connexion was refined into a resemblance of the mystic union of Christ with his church, and was pronounced to be indissoluble either by divorce or by death.

1864 W. W. Skeat tr. J. L. Uhland Songs & Ballads 270 Dante, who could earthly passion To celestial love refine.

1877 E. R. Conder Basis of Faith ii. 68 To refine this discussion into the wire-drawing of verbal controversy.

1970 J. G. Farrell Troubles ii. 336 This was the face of Anglo-Ireland, the inbred Protestant aristocracy,..progressively refining itself into a separate luxurious species.

1990 J. Halperin Novelists in their Youth i. 19 James's passivity was by time and degree refined into a mode of artistic vision.

8. transitive. To clear away, or out of, by refining.

ΚΠ

1622 T. Robinson Anat. Eng. Nunnery 9 [The Iesuits] wil quickly..refine them out of their siluer and golden drosse, into a more sublime estate and condition.

1748 S. Johnson London 106 Behold the warrior dwindled to a beau; Sense, freedom, piety, refin'd away.

1751 J. Jortin Serm. (1771) VI. vii. 140 To purify their religion, till they refined it away.

1848 A. Brontë Tenant of Wildfell Hall II. iv. 72 She should have enough to purify and etherialize her soul, but not enough to refine away her heart.

1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. ix. 588 This was a simple alternative; which might indeed be kept out of sight, but could not be refined away.

1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Reminisc. Great Mutiny 3 A class of writers..who would if it were possible, refine even God Himself out of creation.

1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist v. 252 The artist..remains..above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence.

2007 Slate Mag. (Nexis) 2 Oct. By 1978..the endearing Jersey wharf rat in Springsteen had been refined away.

9. intransitive. To improve on or upon something by introducing refinements.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (transitive)] > improve upon

amendc1330

to improve on (also upon)1618

refine1659

1659 J. Evelyn Char. Eng. 21 A rigid, and uncharitable discipline..introduced by the Scots, and so refined upon by these.

1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iv. 50 Lanferri, and..Barlacchi graved divers things:..which afterwards Sebastiano Serli refining upon, compos'd the better part of that excellent book of his.

1721 E. Young Revenge i. i Not only die, But plunge the dagger in my heart myself? This is refining on calamity.

1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. xviii. 590 Our laws have considerably refined and improved upon the invention.

1816 J. Austen Emma I. ix. 163 You must not refine too much upon this charade.

1904 H. James Golden Bowl I. v. 99 They..looked across the wide reaches of green which seemed in a manner to refine upon their freedom.

1984 G. H. Clarfield & W. M. Wiecek Nucl. Amer. ix. 269 To keep refining upon and perfecting the art of nuclear weapons.

2006 Amer. Jrnl. Transplantation 6 1355 (heading) Endoplasmic and vascular surface activation during organ preservation: Refining upon the benefits of machine perfusion.

10. To employ or affect a subtlety of thought or speech; (hence) to adopt oversubtle language or reasoning. Now rare (archaic and historical in later use).

a. intransitive. With on or upon (a subject, etc.).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > discern [verb (transitive)] > employ subtlety

refine1669

1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 449 The politicians here, that refine upon everything.

1702 W. Penn More Fruits of Solitude §274. 101 If an able Man refines upon the proceedings of an ordinary Capacity, according to his own, he must ever miss it.

1745 E. Haywood Female Spectator IV. 24 To relate Matters, not refine upon them, is I take it the only Business of an Historian.

1791 J. Byng Diary 18 June in Torrington Diaries (1935) II. 312 When she writes fully, she is complainant, and refines upon pleasure till it becomes a pain!

1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. III. 291 The company who sit at the feet of the pastor while he refines upon abstractions.

1883 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 163 To creep out of a difficulty..by refining upon words in defiance of the intention.

1902 W. James Varieties Relig. Experience xviii. 456 She can refine upon the definition of this hypothesis, distinguishing between what is innocent over-belief and symbolism in the expression of it, and what is to be literally taken.

1982 W. Golding Moving Target 198 Not to refine upon it, my mind is all at sea.

b. intransitive. Without construction.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > discern, discriminate [verb (intransitive)] > employing subtlety

refine1726

1726 J. Swift Cadenus & Vanessa 4 This tempts Free-thinkers to refine, And bring in doubt their Pow'r divine.

1774 O. Goldsmith Retaliation 35 Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining, And thought of convincing, while they thought of dining.

1825 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 134/2 I should not trust a German. He would refine too much.

1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) III. 316 Suppose the objector to refine still further, and to draw the nice distinction [etc.].

1913 H. H. Furness Tragedie Julius Caesar 122 (note) Do we refine too much in supposing that this inconsistency between the purpose and the language of Decius is intended by the poet?

2000 J. Aiken Lady Catherine's Necklace ii. 22 ‘Come, come now, Colonel, you refine too much—’ Maria had begun huskily.

Derivatives

reˈfinable adj. that may be refined.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > types of metal generally > [adjective] > other types or qualities of metal

refinable1607

maiden1622

conflatory1650

calcinable1652

noble1666

deft1683

tensile1841

calcigenous1854

multiple-phase1891

slagless1899

air-hardening1901

non-ferrous1909

free-cutting1923

multiphase1946

semi-metallic1974

1607 S. Hieron Discovery of Hypocrisie 22 To purifie that which is refineable as gold & siluer.

1721 A. Campbell Doctr. Middle State 95 All that are Refinable, as are all who were Admitted into the Right Hand Side of Hades, shall then be Refined by this Fire.

1877 Times 19 Sept. 7 London possesses the two largest bullion refining establishments in the world,..and a great deal of refinable gold does come here.

1978 Time 31 Dec. 72 A rough theory that's refinable can catch more truth than an elegant model that doesn't fit the world.

2006 Greenwire (Nexis) 7 June The energy that is needed to convert the [tar] sands to refinable oil is immense.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	refine
释义	refinen.adj. Brit. /rᵻˈfʌɪn/, U.S. /rəˈfaɪn/, /riˈfaɪn/ Forms: 1600s– refine, 1700s refin. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion; probably partly modelled on a French lexical item. Etymon: refine v. Etymology: < refine v. In use with reference to cloth probably after Middle French reffin (noun) fine woollen cloth (1364; French †refin kind of fine cloth (1730)). Compare Spanish refino (adjective) refined (1495 with reference to cloth), (noun) kind of fine cloth (1543). Now rare. A. n. That which has been refined; a refined material or product. Also: an act of refining.In quot. 1904 short for refine cloth (compare sense B.). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > types of metal generally > [noun] > fine metal refinea1635 a1635 R. Corbet Poems (1647) 33 Thine owne rich studies, and deepe Harriots mine, In which there is no drosse, but all refine. 1833 B. Silliman Man. Sugar Cane ii. 71 It leaves the Sugar nearly as pure as when it has passed through a refine. 1904 Woollen Draper's Terms in Tailor & Cutter 4 Aug. 480/1 Refine, a heavy kind of broadcloth made in all colours, and used principally for liveries. B. adj. Refined; spec. designating a type of fine broadcloth. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > [adjective] polisheda1382 dainteousc1386 polite?a1500 delicatea1533 courtly1535 civil1551 court-like1552 well-refined1575 nice1588 perpolite1592 politic1596 soft1599 terse1628 refine1646 refined1650 elegant1652 genteel1678 chastea1797 spirituala1806 aesthetic1844 nicey1859 raffiné1865 nuttish1869 too-tooa1884 sophisticated1895 lavender1928 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] > refined or cultured polite?a1500 fileda1533 facetious1542 exquisited1581 refined1582 smooth1589 perpolite1592 terse1628 washed1628 refine1646 parliamentary1789 literary1793 urbane1800 1646 S. Bolton Arraignment of Errour 47 The understanding it is the purest, spirituallest and refinest part. a1656 J. Hales Golden Remains (1659) i. 41 The thing which in an especial refine dialect of the new Christian language signifies nothing but morality and civility. 1704 London Gaz. No. 3986/4 5 Yards and a half of superfine Woman's Black, 12 Yards and a half of refine Black, both Spanish. 1744 Reasons against Bill regulating Trade to Levant Seas 1 Tho' there are English Refine Cloths made of a Mixture of Spanish and English Wool,..[they] cannot stand a Competition with the French Cloth. 1776 Acct. 8 Mar. in Jrnl. Cork Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. (1901) 7 168 Henry Hickman, Woollen Draper...has just laid in a large and elegant assortment of the following goods, superfine, refine, and middling English and Irish cloths, Ladies' cloths, [etc.]. 1803 Trans. Dublin Soc. 1802 3 144 The growth of wool, for the manufacture of superfine and refine cloth. 1847 Fine Arts' Jrnl. 27 Mar. 324/1 Something far more excellent, far more true to nature, and far more refine in detail. 1902 N.Y. Times 24 Nov. 2 Automobile livery, in Whipcord or Refine Cloth. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022). refinev. Brit. /rᵻˈfʌɪn/, U.S. /rəˈfaɪn/, /riˈfaɪn/ Forms: 1500s–1700s refyne, 1500s– refine. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: re- prefix, fine v.³ Etymology: < re- prefix + fine v.³ Compare Catalan refinar (1575), Spanish refinar (first half of the 16th cent.), Portuguese refinar (1589), all with a range of senses similar to the English word, and compare also post-classical Latin refinire to separate metal from (ore) (c1295 in a British source), Middle French refiner to refine (sugar) (a1469).Compare Middle French, French raffiner to free (a substance) form impurities (1519), to make fine or delicate (1600; < re- re- prefix + affiner affine v.), which replaced Middle French refiner (see above), and the similarly formed Italian raffinare (a1276 as rafinare). Compare also the following apparently isolated borrowing of French raffiner:1551 T. Raynald tr. A. Vesalius Compend. Declar. Vertues Oile Imperial sig. Eii ^v In this oile the foure elements..by the benefit of nature be so subtiliatid, raffinid, and depurid, that trueli neuer hitherto eni oile hathe ben..more simple, subtile and Aierial. 1. a. transitive. In general use. To free from impurities; to purify, cleanse; to separate from something base or inferior. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > remove impurities from [verb (transitive)] mereeOE spurge1303 fine1340 sendre1340 purea1350 purgec1350 purifya1398 depurea1400 clarifyc1430 expurge1483 defecatec1487 subtiliate1551 refine?1572 neatify1581 distil1599 sublimate1601 sweeten1601 depurate1620 infresh1635 lustre1645 lustrate1653 freshen1710 chasten1715 epurate1799 enchastena1806 dispollute1862 ?1572 T. Paynell tr. Treasurie Amadis of Fraunce Ded. sig. ¶.iiij^v As Golde is golde true touchstone tryeth at euerie ryme and season, And dothe refyne the good from bad..So Amadis of worthie fame [etc.]. 1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile clxxi His pure part, from worser parts refind. 1601 R. Chester Loves Martyr 61 Our vnpure Sinne by him being full refind. a1665 K. Digby Jrnl. Voy. to Mediterranean (1868) 40 Because the windes can not refine the aire. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 548 To..raise From the conflagrant mass, purg'd and refin'd, New Heav'ns, new Earth. View more context for this quotation 1707 I. Watts Hymns & Spiritual Songs ii. 180 Earth and Worms Shall ye must refine this Flesh. 1712 R. Blackmore Creation iii. 135 By the driving Wind The Air from noxious Vapours is refin'd. 1754 Bp. T. Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. i. 30 Its Worship is refined from the Errors and Idolatries of Superstition. 1781 W. Cowper Progress of Error 344 To purge and skim away the filth of vice, That so refined it might the more entice. 1845 Times 19 Mar. 7 The Romish Church taught that after this life there existed a purgatorial fire, in which sins might be purified and refined. 1857 ‘B. Cornwall’ Dramatic Scenes 401 Where the streams Of Poesy refine the brain With sweet thoughts. 1999 Utopian Stud. (Nexis) 1 Jan. 26 Only in Bellamy's utopian Boston is evolution successful as a means of social progress, perpetually refining and purifying ‘the race’. b. transitive. To purify, clarify, or distil (a substance or product, esp. raw sugar or crude oil), esp. by a series of industrial processes; to make purer or of a finer quality. Occasionally intransitive. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (transitive)] > refine refine1582 the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > sugar manufacture > [verb (transitive)] > refine refine1582 1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xix. f. 395^v They must be refined from their waste if they be foule, by letting them often settle in fayre water, after they bee grownd. 1614 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 2) v. xii. 507 The raw Lac is of a darke red colour, but being refined, they make it of all colours. 1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 371 Selling their Sugars unextracted from the Cane to the Venetians, and buying it againe from them after it is refined. 1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 59 Now the Table was furnished with fat things, and with Wine that was well refined . View more context for this quotation 1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 83 Tho' the Extraction be very gross, it's yet so well refin'd, that it does not, in the least, smell of the Kettle. 1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) I. i. 8 The nitre is thoroughly refined. 1836–41 W. T. Brande Man. Chem. (ed. 5) 1076 It cannot be doubted that much improvement may be made in refining sugar, by the aid of chemistry, so as to produce a larger quantity of refined from raw sugar. 1883 Cent. Mag. July 332/2 The United [Company] stores and transports [oil]; the Standard buys, refines, sells, and exports. 1939 Fortune Nov. 11 Pure Dextrose is derived chiefly from American corn... It is refined in American factories. 1988 Here's Health Apr. 91/2 When flour is refined to make white bread, it loses most of its 20 vitamins and minerals and almost all its fibre. 1998 Good Health Mag. Mar. 56/1 Crystallised salt..has been refined and as a result is transformed into glistening white crystals that can be used in cooking. 2004 A. Thomson Introd. Afr. Polit. (ed. 2) ii. 26 Although it still relies heavily on its cash-crop farming, the Kenyan economy..is particularly successful in refining petroleum products (from imported oil). †c. transitive. To clear (the spirits, mind, etc.) from dullness; to make clearer or more subtle. Obsolete.With quot. 1605 cf. sense 2b. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > sharpness, shrewdness, insight > penetrate, discern [verb (transitive)] > sharpen wheta1400 refine1589 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. iii. 4 They came by instinct diuine, and by deepe meditation, and much abstinence (the same assubtiling and refining their spirits) to be made apt to receaue visions. 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. i. 1 Thou glorious Guide..Lift vp my Soule, my drossie spirits refine. 1690 School of Politicks 1 With sober Liquour to refine my Head. a1704 T. Brown Oration in Praise Drunkenness in Wks. (1707) I. i. 51 Wine..refines the Judgment of the Doctors and make[s] their Opinions most Canonical. 1728 E. Haywood tr. M.-A. de Gomez Belle Assemblée (1732) II. 107 A Relaxation of Thought is certainly a help to the refining it. †d. transitive. To purify morally; to raise to a higher spiritual state. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > morality > virtue > purity > make pure [verb (transitive)] cleansec897 shire?c1225 clengea1300 purge1340 purec1350 purifya1393 whitena1400 sprinkle1526 refine1594 simplify1609 sublime1613 purgate1795 revirginize1852 bleach1868 1594 G. Chapman Σκìα Νυκτòς sig. D An argument to rauish and refine An earthly soule, and make it meere diuine. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 63 Tri'd in sharp tribulation, and refin'd By Faith and faithful works. View more context for this quotation 1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada ii. iv. iii. 131 Blessed souls are there refin'd, and..prepar'd for light. 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 257. ¶8 What Actions can express the entire Purity of Thought which refines and sanctifies a virtuous Man? 1775 J. Ryland Contempl. Insufficiency of Reason vii. 21 (heading) Reason is utterly insufficient to..root out vicious inclinations from the soul, and refine and purify the heart. 2. a. transitive. Metallurgy. To purify or separate (metals) from dross, alloy, or other extraneous matter by removing oxides, carbon, and dissolved gases, generally at high temperature; spec. to convert grey pig iron into white metal, or to purify and otherwise improve steel in the ladle after steel-making. Also: to separate metals from (ore, dross, etc.). Also intransitive. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > refine fine1340 concoct1555 refine1579 maturate1651 1579 T. Hill tr. L. Fioravanti Ioyfull Iewell xxviii. 21 As in melting or refining metalls [It. si liquefanno i metalli]. 1596 W. Raleigh Discoverie Guiana (new ed.) 49 I found in it, his quicksiluer, saltpeter, and diuers things for the triall of mettels, and also the dust of such ore as he had refined. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. iii. 209 As much quicke-silver as is necessarie to refine their gold and silver. 1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 117 All lead oar dig'd in England hath a proportion of silver mixt with it, but some so little, that it will not quit cost to refine it. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Refining There are two Ways of refining Silver: The one with Lead; the other with Salt-petre. 1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 591 Furnaces for running this ore into pigs..and forges to refine pig-iron into bars. 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1124 The teller silver is refined in quantities of 160 or 170 marcs. 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron xiii. 246 The loss is greater in refining hot-blast than it is with cold-blast pig-iron. 1924 A. J. Allmand & H. J. T. Ellingham Princ. Appl. Electrochem. (ed. 2) xxiii. 585 The larger double-ring furnaces can certainly refine as well as melt. 1940 G. H. J. Adlam & L. S. Price Higher School Certificate Inorg. Chem. (ed. 2) xxxviii. 333 The crude metal is refined first by liquidation. 1982 G. C. Hill & J. S. Holman Chem. in Context: Lab. Man. & Study Guide 150 This sponge iron is melted in an electric arc furnace where the ‘gangue’ is removed as a liquid slag and the molten metal refined to a suitable steel composition. 2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. xi. 456 By far the most important is the Hall–Héroult process..for producing aluminium from alumina, itself refined from bauxite ore. b. transitive. figurative and in figurative context. ΚΠ 1596 E. Spenser Hymne in Honour of Beautie 47 It more faire..it makes, And the grosse matter of this earthly myne Which clotheth it thereafter doth refyne. 1633 J. Ford Broken Heart ii. iii. sig. D4 What heauen Refines mortality from drosse of earth [etc.]. 1683 M. Astell Enemies in J. S. Millman & G. Wright Early Mod. Women's Mss. Poetry (2007) 187 You are my Vertues exercise, The usefull Furnace to refine My dross. 1720 R. Welton tr. T. Alvares de Andrade Sufferings Son of God I. xi. 294 When Thou refinest all the Dross, all that is base and Earthly in me by the Fire of Thy Love. a1800 W. Cowper Epist. to R. Lloyd in Poems (1980) I. 57 Nor needs [he] his genuine ore refine; 'Tis ready polish'd from the mine. 1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake ii. 73 A human tear From passion's dross refined and clear. 1827 J. Keble Christian Year II. lxxiii. 87 The world's rude furnace must thy blood refine. 1871 R. Browning Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau 91 The special gold, whate'er the form it take, Head-work or heart-work, fined and thrice-refined I' the crucible of life. 1995 Sun (Baltimore) 8 Oct. j3/2 He was able to refine their poetic kernels while his colleagues struggled with the dross. †3. transitive. To polish or purify (a language, composition, etc.); to render in a more cultured or elegant aesthetic style. Obsolete.Now merged with sense 4. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > compose elegantly [verb (transitive)] > refine or make more elegant file1551 raise1581 refine1582 smooth1667 1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie xii. 76 Other tungs beside the first refined, marking this currant applied the same to their own seuerall writing. 1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. F She heard him so superfine, as if Ephæbus had learnd him to refine his mother tongue. a1630 F. Moryson in Shakespeare's Europe (1903) v. i. 438 The English tounge..hath beene in late ages excellently refyned and made perfitt for ready and breefe deliuery both in prose and verse. 1634 Malory's Most Anc. Hist. Prince Arthur (title page) The Most Ancient and Valiant History of the Renowned Prince Arthur..newly refined. 1664 J. Playford Brief Introd. Skill Musick (ed. 4) i. 76 Of late years our language is much refined, and so is our Musick. 1700 J. Dryden Fables Pref. sig. A^v I..resolv'd to put their Merits to the Trial, by turning some of the Canterbury Tales* into our Language, as it is now refin'd. 1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 37. ⁋8 They may as well refine the speech as the sentiments of their personages. 1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 925 Let sonneteering Bowles his strains refine. 1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 75 He took the trouble of refining the language of a copy of them which he possessed. 4. transitive. To free (something, as a practice, system, method, product, etc.) from imperfections or defects; to bring to a better state; (now esp.) to make minor changes so as to improve or clarify. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (transitive)] > purify or refine slick1340 filec1400 polishc1400 burnish1526 polite1535 extirpate1548 purify1548 soften1579 purgea1582 refine1592 mellow1593 civilize1596 rarefy1600 incivilize1603 sublimate1624 alembicate1627 chastise1627 sublime1631 calcine1635 gentilize1635 ennoble1636 subtilize1638 deconcoct1655 sublimizea1729 smooth1762 absterge1817 decrassify1855 sandpaper1890 1592 R. Greene Vision sig. E^v Some thought to amend Nature with Art, and with Apothecaries drugges, to refine that which God had made perfect. c1670 T. Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws (1840) 5 The law of England..hath been fined and refined by an infinite number of grave and learned men. a1703 E. Chamberlayne Present State Eng. (1707) iii. iv. 287 King James the Fifth refined the Order of St. Andrew in Scotland. 1708 J. Keill Acct. Animal Secretion Pref. p. xix The whole Practice of Physick by the Invention of many useful Remedies, is so much refined, that [etc.]. 1807 T. Young Course Lect. Nat. Philos. I. xxviii. 336 It is easy, by means of rollers,..to refine the head of the pump rod to a rectilinear motion. 1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab viii. 105 Lending their power to pleasure and to pain, Yet raising, sharpening, and refining each. 1899 Contemp. Rev. June 870 We refine the method of stealing, that is all—joint-stock it, and sometimes call it a dividend. 1949 K. Clark Landscape into Art Epil. 133 Numerous methods of representation had been mastered and refined. 1978 E. Cleaver Soul on Fire 84 Over the years, I had refined my own technique of jazzing with the man. 2003 Creativity May 45 The search engine has been refined with new features like a negative search tool. 5. a. transitive. To free from roughness, coarseness, or crudeness; to imbue with cultivated feelings, instincts, etc.; to make (a person, faculty) more cultured or polished. Also intransitive with object implied. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > refine [verb (transitive)] refine1592 unvulgarize1811 aestheticize1864 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > humanistic studies > improve the mind, cultivate [verb (transitive)] till1393 enrich1502 refine1592 cultivate?1631 unblade1633 urbanize1642 smooth1644 culture1677 metropolitanize1870 1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. B3^v They had not the true vse of gentility, and therefore they lived meanely and died obscurely, but now mennes capacities are refined. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 589 Love refines The thoughts, and heart enlarges. View more context for this quotation 1671 E. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 5) i. ii. 61 The Britains or Welsh more lately refined did not take Surnames till of late years. 1781 W. Cowper Charity 98 Ingenious Art..Steps forth to fashion and refine the race. 1781 W. Cowper Charity 332 All truth is precious,..And what dilates the powers must needs refine. 1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. i. iii. 23 He had sought less to curb, than to refine and elevate her imagination. 1848 L. Hunt Jar of Honey iii. 32 When reproached for carrying off paintings..from Sicily, he said he did it to refine the minds of his countrymen. 1938 ‘S. Smith’ Tender only to One 41 It's nice to get abroad, It quickens and refines. 1979 R. P. Graves A. E. Housman (1981) v. 81 The study of classics might refine a student's literary discrimination. 2005 Irish Univ. Rev. (Nexis) 22 Mar. [My mother's] speech was not as earthen as..that of her brothers and sisters; it was refined by years of schooling with the nuns. b. intransitive. To become more polished, elegant, or cultured. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > refine [verb (intransitive)] refinea1640 a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger False One iii. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Rr2/1 Did you live at Court, as I doe (Gallants) You would refine, and learne an apter language. 1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 25 Let a Lord once own the happy Lines, How the Wit brightens! How the Style refines! 1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 45 In proportion as society refines, new books must ever become more necessary. 1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 31 As his years increas'd his taste refin'd. 1921 E. T. Raymond Portraits of Nineties 59 It was, no doubt, a dread of commonness that led him [sc. George Meredith] to refine excessively. 1991 Independent (Nexis) 14 Dec. 39 As their taste refines, jewellery buyers usually turn their attention towards small, delicate things. 6. intransitive. To become purified; to grow clear or free from impurities. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > become free from impurities [verb (intransitive)] finea1425 refine1604 reclear1615 purify1645 depurate1768 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xiv. 250 The Emeralds grow in stones..and they seeme by little and little to thicken and refine. 1690 J. Norris Christian Blessedness 54 They presen[t]ly began to behave themselves more orderly, and seemed like Gold, to refine upon the Trial of the Furnace. 1713 J. Addison Cato i. vi The pure stream..Works it self clear, and as it runs, refines. 1734 I. Watts Reliquiæ Juveniles xxviii. 111 Let it lie and refine from all the Dregs of Sin and sensual Impurities. 1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 496 That head,..though the thickening dross will scarce refine, Augments its ore, and is itself a mine. 1844 Dict. Trade, Commerce & Navigation at Sugar The impure crust which forms on the upper surface of the pans when the sugar is refining. 1948 Trans. Amer. Foundrymen's Soc. 56 16 A melt..coarsens gradually as time and temperature increase..then begins to refine again with further increases in temperature. 7. transitive. To bring into, raise to, a certain state by purifying or making more subtle, elegant, distilled, etc. ΚΠ 1608 T. Dekker Dead Tearme sig. F4^v After I was thus fashioned and refined into the ciuill and beautifull shape of a Citty, I began to be courted. 1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 92 Time and experience refined this way of triall into a more excellent condition. 1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub xi. 196 Refining what is Literal into Figure and Mystery. 1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xv. 484 The sensual connexion was refined into a resemblance of the mystic union of Christ with his church, and was pronounced to be indissoluble either by divorce or by death. 1864 W. W. Skeat tr. J. L. Uhland Songs & Ballads 270 Dante, who could earthly passion To celestial love refine. 1877 E. R. Conder Basis of Faith ii. 68 To refine this discussion into the wire-drawing of verbal controversy. 1970 J. G. Farrell Troubles ii. 336 This was the face of Anglo-Ireland, the inbred Protestant aristocracy,..progressively refining itself into a separate luxurious species. 1990 J. Halperin Novelists in their Youth i. 19 James's passivity was by time and degree refined into a mode of artistic vision. 8. transitive. To clear away, or out of, by refining. ΚΠ 1622 T. Robinson Anat. Eng. Nunnery 9 [The Iesuits] wil quickly..refine them out of their siluer and golden drosse, into a more sublime estate and condition. 1748 S. Johnson London 106 Behold the warrior dwindled to a beau; Sense, freedom, piety, refin'd away. 1751 J. Jortin Serm. (1771) VI. vii. 140 To purify their religion, till they refined it away. 1848 A. Brontë Tenant of Wildfell Hall II. iv. 72 She should have enough to purify and etherialize her soul, but not enough to refine away her heart. 1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. ix. 588 This was a simple alternative; which might indeed be kept out of sight, but could not be refined away. 1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Reminisc. Great Mutiny 3 A class of writers..who would if it were possible, refine even God Himself out of creation. 1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist v. 252 The artist..remains..above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence. 2007 Slate Mag. (Nexis) 2 Oct. By 1978..the endearing Jersey wharf rat in Springsteen had been refined away. 9. intransitive. To improve on or upon something by introducing refinements. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (transitive)] > improve upon amendc1330 to improve on (also upon)1618 refine1659 1659 J. Evelyn Char. Eng. 21 A rigid, and uncharitable discipline..introduced by the Scots, and so refined upon by these. 1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iv. 50 Lanferri, and..Barlacchi graved divers things:..which afterwards Sebastiano Serli refining upon, compos'd the better part of that excellent book of his. 1721 E. Young Revenge i. i Not only die, But plunge the dagger in my heart myself? This is refining on calamity. 1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. xviii. 590 Our laws have considerably refined and improved upon the invention. 1816 J. Austen Emma I. ix. 163 You must not refine too much upon this charade. View more context for this quotation 1904 H. James Golden Bowl I. v. 99 They..looked across the wide reaches of green which seemed in a manner to refine upon their freedom. 1984 G. H. Clarfield & W. M. Wiecek Nucl. Amer. ix. 269 To keep refining upon and perfecting the art of nuclear weapons. 2006 Amer. Jrnl. Transplantation 6 1355 (heading) Endoplasmic and vascular surface activation during organ preservation: Refining upon the benefits of machine perfusion. 10. To employ or affect a subtlety of thought or speech; (hence) to adopt oversubtle language or reasoning. Now rare (archaic and historical in later use). a. intransitive. With on or upon (a subject, etc.). ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > discern [verb (transitive)] > employ subtlety refine1669 1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 449 The politicians here, that refine upon everything. 1702 W. Penn More Fruits of Solitude §274. 101 If an able Man refines upon the proceedings of an ordinary Capacity, according to his own, he must ever miss it. 1745 E. Haywood Female Spectator IV. 24 To relate Matters, not refine upon them, is I take it the only Business of an Historian. 1791 J. Byng Diary 18 June in Torrington Diaries (1935) II. 312 When she writes fully, she is complainant, and refines upon pleasure till it becomes a pain! 1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. III. 291 The company who sit at the feet of the pastor while he refines upon abstractions. 1883 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 163 To creep out of a difficulty..by refining upon words in defiance of the intention. 1902 W. James Varieties Relig. Experience xviii. 456 She can refine upon the definition of this hypothesis, distinguishing between what is innocent over-belief and symbolism in the expression of it, and what is to be literally taken. 1982 W. Golding Moving Target 198 Not to refine upon it, my mind is all at sea. b. intransitive. Without construction. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > discern, discriminate [verb (intransitive)] > employing subtlety refine1726 1726 J. Swift Cadenus & Vanessa 4 This tempts Free-thinkers to refine, And bring in doubt their Pow'r divine. 1774 O. Goldsmith Retaliation 35 Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining, And thought of convincing, while they thought of dining. 1825 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 134/2 I should not trust a German. He would refine too much. 1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) III. 316 Suppose the objector to refine still further, and to draw the nice distinction [etc.]. 1913 H. H. Furness Tragedie Julius Caesar 122 (note) Do we refine too much in supposing that this inconsistency between the purpose and the language of Decius is intended by the poet? 2000 J. Aiken Lady Catherine's Necklace ii. 22 ‘Come, come now, Colonel, you refine too much—’ Maria had begun huskily. Derivatives reˈfinable adj. that may be refined. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > types of metal generally > [adjective] > other types or qualities of metal refinable1607 maiden1622 conflatory1650 calcinable1652 noble1666 deft1683 tensile1841 calcigenous1854 multiple-phase1891 slagless1899 air-hardening1901 non-ferrous1909 free-cutting1923 multiphase1946 semi-metallic1974 1607 S. Hieron Discovery of Hypocrisie 22 To purifie that which is refineable as gold & siluer. 1721 A. Campbell Doctr. Middle State 95 All that are Refinable, as are all who were Admitted into the Right Hand Side of Hades, shall then be Refined by this Fire. 1877 Times 19 Sept. 7 London possesses the two largest bullion refining establishments in the world,..and a great deal of refinable gold does come here. 1978 Time 31 Dec. 72 A rough theory that's refinable can catch more truth than an elegant model that doesn't fit the world. 2006 Greenwire (Nexis) 7 June The energy that is needed to convert the [tar] sands to refinable oil is immense. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.adj.a1635v.?1572
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refinen.adj.

refinev.

Derivatives