fineness

[ fahyn-nis ]

noun

1. the state or quality of being fine.
2. the proportion of pure precious metal in an alloy, often expressed in parts per thousand.

ˈfineness

/ ˈfaɪnnɪs /

noun

1. the state or quality of being fine
2. a measurement of the purity of precious metal, expressed as the number of parts per thousand that is precious metal

Word History and Origins

Origin of fineness¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; fine ¹, -ness

Example Sentences

It’ll grind beans to espresso-grade fineness, compress them into a dense puck for flavor extraction, brew one or two shots at a time, and even froth milk for luxurious lattes.

From Popular-Science

And yet WFB recognized in his friend Al a fineness of mind and principle.

From The Daily Beast

It weighed scarce one maes, or nine diezmos, of the fineness of eighteen or nineteen carats, alloyed with silver.

From Project Gutenberg

But in the fineness of the leaf, tobacco culture has made its greatest stride.

From Project Gutenberg

Of commercial fertilizers, Peruvian guano is doubtless one of the best—imparting both color and fineness to the leaf.

From Project Gutenberg

Stanley Hall, attracted by the fineness of the night, also remained on deck a short time after the others were gone.

From Project Gutenberg

They are generally thickest in the middle, while their teeth are of various degrees of fineness and of different forms.

From Project Gutenberg