Etymograph

English

fine

Fine comes from Old French fin ‘fine, minute, exact’.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fin‘fine’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605fine

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fin‘fine’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605fine

Earliest quotation: c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All’s Well, that Ends Well: “Thou haſt ſpoken all alreadie, vnleſſe thou canſt ſay…”

The story

From Middle English fin, fyn, from Old French fin (‘fine, minute, exact’), of obscure origin, but probably derived from Latin fīnīre (‘to finish’) or fīnis (‘boundary, limit, end’), with an abstract sense of fine or thin also arising in many Romance languages (compare Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish fino).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- ‘to stick, set up’

fix, dig, ditch, dyke, dike, crucify, 21 more

through Latin *fignis

finale, infinitesimal, 12 more

through Latin fīnis ‘boundary, limit’

final, finish, infinite, infinity, financier, finis, fino, finial, 16 more

through Latin fīniō ‘to finish’

definition, finite, infinitive, 6 more

through Middle English fin

fin

Another origin of fine

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeygʷ-‘to stick, set up’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*fignisuncertain
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500fīnis‘a payment in settlement or tax’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fin‘fine, delicate’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fyn
  6. Englishtodayfine

Another origin of fine

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeygʷ-‘to stick, set up’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*fignisuncertain
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīnisas fīnem
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentfine‘end’
  5. Englishtodaysame form

Another origin of fine

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeygʷ-‘to stick, set up’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*fignisuncertain
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīnis‘boundary, limit’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīnīre
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400finer‘to finish’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500finen
  7. Englishtodayfine

Today it means

adj Of superior quality.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French fin / fine

Shirt and support for this word