Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act of refining.
- noun The result of refining; an improvement or elaboration.
- noun The state or quality of being refined; cultivation, as in manners or taste.
- noun A keen or precise phrasing; a subtle distinction.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of refining or purifying; the act of separating from a substance all extraneous matter; purification: clarification: as, the refinement of metals or liquors.
- noun The state of being pure or purified.
- noun The state of being free from what is coarse, rude, inelegant, debasing, or the like; purity of taste, mind, etc.; elegance of manners or language; culture.
- noun That which proceeds from refining or a desire to refine; a result of elaboration, polish, or nicety: often used to denote an over-nicety, or affected subtlety: as, the refinements of logic or philosophy; the refinements of cunning.
- noun Excessive or extravagant compliment; a form of expression intended to impose on the hearer.
- noun Synonyms Cultivation, etc. See
culture .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of refining, or the state of being refined
- noun That which is refined, elaborated, or polished to excess; an affected subtilty.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The act, or the result of
refining ; theremoval ofimpurities , or apurified material - noun
High -class style ;cultivation . - noun A
fine orsubtle distinction .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude
- noun the result of improving something
- noun the process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or sugar etc.)
- noun a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality
- noun the quality of excellence in thought and manners and taste
Etymologies
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Examples
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He dwelt on the spirit of freedom existing in America, asserting that their extreme notions of liberty arose from the peculiar religious spirit which existed in the colonies, which he termed a refinement on the principles of resistance, and which was carried with them on their first emigration from England.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. From George III. to Victoria Edward Farr
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Much of what we call refinement is a cruel burden and entails a grievous waste of human energy and happiness.
The Nervous Housewife Abraham Myerson 1914
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Is it true that cultivation, what we call refinement, kills individuality?
The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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Is it true that cultivation, what we call refinement, kills individuality?
As We Were Saying Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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Is it true that cultivation, what we call refinement, kills individuality?
Complete Essays Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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And Rome had its decadent elites snobbishly revelling in Greek refinement, while the ‘good, simple, oldfashioned’ Romans were lamenting the lost virtues of hard work, patriotism, sobriety etc.
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It looks like you only get one page of results, so if the clip is buried deep inside YouTube, only search term refinement will dig it up here.
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It looks like you only get one page of results, so if the clip is buried deep inside YouTube, only search term refinement will dig it up here.
Wibe7.tv Provides Thumbnail-Only YouTube Search Results | Lifehacker Australia 2009
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The next refinement is to take into account that the luminous screen is typically round: any alpha particles striking outside the round area will not be visible.
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But although far superior to them in refinement and the various arts of civilization, they were no match in war for the bold mountaineers, the Swiss of Anahuac.
knitandpurl commented on the word refinement
"Perhaps Mme de Guermantes would smile next day when she referred to the headdress, a little too complicated, which the Princess had worn, but certainly she would declare that the latter had been none the less quite lovely and marvellously got up; and the Princess, whose own tastes found something a little cold, a little austere, a little "tailor-made" in her cousin's way of dressing, would discover in this strict sobriety an exquisite refinement."
--The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, Revised by D.J. Enright, p 63 of the Modern Library paperback edition
August 4, 2008