refine

English Online Dictionary. What means refine‎? What does refine mean?

English

Etymology

re- +‎ fine

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈfaɪn/
• Rhymes: -aɪn
• Hyphenation: re‧fine

Verb

refine (third-person singular simple present refines, present participle refining, simple past and past participle refined)

1. (transitive) To purify; reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; to free from impurities.
2. (intransitive) To become pure; to be cleared of impure matter.
3. (transitive) To purify of coarseness, vulgarity, inelegance, etc.; to polish.

4. (transitive, intransitive) To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.
5. (transitive) To make nice or subtle.

Derived terms

• rerefine
• refinable
• refinement
• refiner
• refinery

Translations

Further reading

• “refine”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “refine”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Feiner, enfire, ferine, fineer

Portuguese

Verb

refine

1. inflection of refinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

refine

1. inflection of refinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative