▪ I. † confine, a. Obs.
[a. F. confin, -fine bordering, neighbouring (= It. confino, -fine):—L. confīn-is bordering, adjoining, having mutual bounds, f. con- together + fīnis end, limit, boundary.]
Neighbouring, adjacent.
| 1579 J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf D viij, Great with another confine gouernment. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. iii. iii. (1651) 209 To discover the Streights of Magellan, and Confine places. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. i, The Armorick islands, and confine regions of Britanie. |
▪ II. † confine, n.1 Obs.
Always pl. confines; also 6 -fins, -finies.
[ad. L. confīn-is, -fīnem, neighbour, n. use of confīnis adj.: see prec.]
pl. The inhabitants of adjacent regions, neighbours.
| 1531 Elyot Gov. i. xx, I haue diuers confins and neighbours. c 1534 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 191 They became terrible to there confines. 1555 Eden Decades iii. i. 89 Exchangynge golde for housholde stuffe with theyr confines whiche sumewhat esteeme the same. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. Babylon (1605) 420 If we talke but with our neere confines. |
▪ III. confine, n.2
(ˈkɒnfaɪn)
Mostly in pl. confines. Also 4 confynye, 6 confyne, pl. confins.
[a. F. pl. confins (in 14th c. also confines) = It. confini, -e, Sp. confines, med.L. confīnēs bounds, in L. confīnia bounds, pl. of confīnium, and of confīne neuter of confīnis, confine a. In Shakes. the plural is ˈconfines in senses 1–2; the sing. is always conˈfine, but this usually in the sense ‘confinement’ or ‘place of confinement’ (a sense also possible in the few instances of pl. conˈfines); in this sense the n. may be viewed as a direct derivative of the verb.]
I. 1. pl. Boundaries, bounds, frontiers, borders; the bordering or bounding regions, border-lands.
| 1548 Hall Chron. II. 171 b, Which..animated y⊇ Scottes to make Rodes and Incursions, into the confines and marches of the Reelme. 1555 Eden Decades Pref. (Arb.) 51 Thextreme confines of Egypt. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. i. 6 When he enters the confines of a Tauerne. 1626 Bacon Sylva §399 The confines of the River Niger..are well watered. 1694 R. Molesworth Acc. Denmark in 1692 (ed. 3) 34 The Elbe which is rather to be esteemed one of the Confines and Boundaries of his Territories. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. x. 100 We had..arrived in the confines of the southern Ocean. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 160 As far as the western confines of China. |
| transf. 1787 ‘Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. (1809) 31 The flap of your saddle..chafing you between the confines of the boot and breeches. |
† b. Formerly in sing. Bounding line or surface.
| 1552 Huloet, Confyne or bordoure, Confinium. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 206 Which is the beginning and confine of the state and realme of Serifo the king of Mecca. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ezek. xlvii. 20 The great sea from the confine directly, til thou come to Emath. 1675 Newton in Brewster Life (1831) I. vi. 133, I thought light was reflected..by the same confine or superficies of the ethereal medium which refracts it. 1715 Cheyne Philos. Princ. Nat. Relig. i. 81 In the confine of Air and Sal-Gem [reflexion] is stronger than in the confine of Air and Water. |
† 2. Region, territory. Rarely in sing. Obs.
| c 1400 Mandeville xvii. (1839) 183 Fro Jerusalem unto other confynyes of the superficialtee of the erthe beȝonde. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 3 Heere in these Confines slily haue I lurkt. 1601 ― Jul. C. iii. i. 272. 1646 G. Daniel Poems Wks. 1878 I. 24 Free, as Musæus, & y⊇ clearest Heads Of that blest confine. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 395 Neerer our ancient Seat; perhaps in view Of those bright confines. 1670 Cotton Espernon i. ii. 55. |
3. fig. a. pl. The limits or bounds within which any subject, notion, or action, is confined.
| 1548 in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. App. R. 62 Princes have less confines to their wills. 1611 Tourneur Ath. Trag. iii. iii, Within the confines of humanitie. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iv. 244 Doth not the very nature of a Definition exclude the Deitie from its confines? 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. vi, Beyond the confines of geography. |
b. pl. The borders or ‘border-land’ between two regions of thought, classes of notions, portions of time, etc.
| 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1328 Natures neuter and meane..situate in the confines betweene gods and men. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. ix. 318 The narrow dubious confines between Virtue and Vice. 1698 Dryden Virg. æneid vii. 579 Betwixt the Confines of the Night and Day. 1810 Southey Kehama xx. 7 Just on the confines of the day. 1854 Brewster More Worlds ix. 146 Our author finds himself on the confines of a mystery. |
| sing. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. ii. 37 It is no more a happiness, than it is an unhappiness; upon the confine of both, but neither. |
II. (kənˈfaɪn)
4. Confinement; limitation. poet.
| 1597 Shakes. Lover's Compl. 265 Vow, bond, nor space, In thee [love] hath neither sting, knot, nor confine. 1604 ― Oth. i. ii. 27, I would not my vnhoused free condition Put into Circumscription, and Confine. c 1785 Burns Winter Nt., Think on the dungeon's grim confine. 1794 Mathias Purs. Lit. (1798) 300 Such is the Poet: bold, without confine, Imagination's ‘charter'd libertine!’ 1875 Browning Inn Album 1 Each stanza seems to gather skirts around, And primly, trimly, keep the foot's confine. |
† 5. A place of confinement, confining or enclosing place; enclosure. Obs.
| 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxxxiv, In whose confine immured is the store Which should example where your equall grew. 1602 ― Ham. i. i. 155 At his [the cock's] warning,..Th' extrauagant, and erring Spirit, hyes To his confine. Ibid. ii. ii. 252 A goodly one, in which there are many Confines, Wards, and Dungeons. 1610 ― Temp. iv. i. 121. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. ii. xix, Sends back again to what Confine it listeth. 1650 T. Bayly Herba Parietis 124 Virtues..temple as it is a thorow-fare to honours, I like fullwell; but as it is a confine, I like the seat no more than if he had sate me upon the stoole of sad repentance. |
▪ IV. confine, v.
(kənˈfaɪn)
[a. F. confiner in same senses (15th c. in Littré), ad. It. confinare to border upon, bound, limit, set limits to, banish, limit and confine to a place; f. confino, confine bordering, bounding:—L. confīn-is bordering: see confine n. (Cf. Pr. and Sp. confinar, med.L. confinare.)]
1. intr. To have a common boundary or frontier with; to border on, be adjacent to. (Said of regions or countries, and of their inhabitants.) Now rare.
| 1523 St. Papers Hen. VIII, VI. 119 His Countie of Ferrato, whiche dothe confyne in some partes with the Swices. 1577 Eden & Willes Hist. Trav. 264 b, The princes which confine uppon that sea. 1580 North Plutarch (1676) 10 The countries which confine there together. 1659 T. Philipot Villare Cant. 136 The Woods..confining to Shooter's Hill. 1694 R. Molesworth Acc. Denmark (ed. 3) 182 The Duke of Holstein..mentioned last of those Princes that confine with Denmark. 1700 Dryden Fables, Ovid's Met. xii. 58 Betwixt Heav'n, Earth, and Skies, there stands a place Confining on all three. 1840 Blackw. Mag. XLVIII. 392 The frontier line of the Persian empire ‘marched’ or confined with the Grecian. |
| fig. 1647 Fuller Good Th. in W.T. (1841) 151 This active plant, with visible motion, doth border and confine on sensible creatures. 1784 Dangerous Connections I. vii, Abuse or evil always unhappily confining too nearly on good. 1880 Seeley in Macm. Mag. Nov. 43 The periods in which the domain of history confines with that of politics. |
† 2. trans. To border on, bound. Obs.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 119 [Cappadocia] passeth by..All those nations in Asia before-named, confining many others. 1607 Norden Surveyors Dial. 19 Kent..and other Shires confining the Sea. 1694 R. Molesworth Acc. Denmark (ed. 3) 6 A State which is confined by many Principalities is weak, exposed to many dangers. |
† b. To separate as a boundary. Obs.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 54 The mountaines Pyrenæi do confine Spaine and France one from the other. |
† 3. To relegate to certain limits; to banish.
| 1577–87 Holinshed Scot. Chron. (1806) II. 27 Confining them for ever out of all the parts of his dominions. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. ii. i. 194 So haue we thought it good From our free person, she should be confinde. 1624 Heywood Gunaik. iv. 207 Alcippus intended to abrogate..their lawes, for which he was confind from Sparta. 1637 ― Royal King K ij, Life..which as your gift I'le Keepe, till Heaven and Nature Confine it hence. 1653 Holcroft Procopius i. 5 Shee..confined them single, and far asunder, to the remotest parts of Italy. |
4. To shut up, imprison, immure, put or keep in detention. Const. in (formerly, transitional from 3, † into).
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. v. 11 Doom'd for a certaine terme to walke the night; And for the day confin'd to fast in Fiers. 1610 ― Temp. i. ii. 274 She did confine thee..Into a clouen Pyne. Ibid. 361 Therefore wast thou Deseruedly confin'd into this Rocke. 1620 Horæ Subseciuæ 293 Hee confined his onely Grand-sonne Agrippa Posthumus into the Iland Planasia. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 164 Confine the Tyrant. 1795 Gentl. Mag. LXI. i. 247 Boats were plying in the principal streets to relieve families that were confined in their upper apartments. 1836 Marryat 3 Cutters iv, The three English Seamen were..confined below. 1836–9 Dickens Sk. Boz, Visit to Newgate, In one of which..prisoners of the more respectable class are confined. |
b. To enclose or retain within limits; to fasten, secure, keep in place.
| 1595 Shakes. John v. vii. 47 Within me is a hell, and there the poyson Is, as a fiend, confin'd to tyrannize. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 154 Now let not Natures hand Keepe the wilde Flood confin'd. 1616 Chapman Homer's Hymns, To Venus, All the belluine, That or the earth feeds or the seas confine. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xx, His body was so sore & swelled, that he could not bear to be confined in his wearing apparel. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §51 Iron stanchions..let into the rock by way of confining the kant in its place. 1853 Reade Chr. Johnstone 27 They had cotton jackets..confined at the waist by the apron-strings. 1872 E. Peacock Mabel Heron I. x. 174 To confine its waters within high banks. |
5. To keep or restrain (a person) within his dwelling, etc.; to oblige to stay indoors, or in one's room or bed. Said of ill health, stress of weather, etc.; usually in passive. Const. to.
| 1634 W. Tirwhyt Balzac's Lett. 396 Were I not confined to my bed. 1688 S. Penton Guardian's Instruct. 2, I am confin'd by a great uneasiness contracted by a Cold. 1708 Swift Death Partridge, He grew ill, was confined first to his chamber, and in a few hours after to his bed. 1722 De Foe Plague 79 Though I confined my family I could not stay within entirely myself. 1734 Berkeley Let. 19 Feb. Wks. IV. 214, I have been confined three weeks by gout. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 137 A rainy day confined him to the house. |
6. to be confined: to be in childbed; to be brought to bed; to be delivered of (a child). Cf. confinement 4.
| 1772 Mrs. Delany Corr. Ser. ii. I. 467, I believe Lady Weymouth will be confined in the month of Dec{supr}. 1860 J. Wolff Trav. & Adv. I. xii. 396 Here was Lady Georgiana Wolff confined of her first child. |
7. fig. To keep within bounds, limit, restrict.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xlii, Those extraordinary gifts..made it the harder to hold them confined within private bounds. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 24 Now I am cabin'd, crib'd, confin'd, bound in, To sawcy doubts, and feares. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vii. §12 Was God's Worship to be confined to his Temple at Jerusalem. 1754–62 Hume Hist. Eng. I. xv. 385 On any condition which should confine him in the punishment of these offenders. 1762 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. v. (1763) 67 When the Melody was most confined in its Compass. 1771 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. I. 62 All the learning of the times was confined among the clergy. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales I. 62 [We] pursued our sport, principally confined to the taking of samlets. 1885 Clodd Myths & Dr. i. v. 91 Traditions..not confined to the Old world. |
b. to confine oneself to: to restrict one's action, attention, etc., to; to keep to.
| 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. iii. iv. 257 As a man..apt to be mis-carried by his appetite, confines himself by his vow to one dish. a 1698 Temple (J.), If the gout continue, I confine myself wholly to the milk diet. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic (1762) p. v, If they do not confine themselves altogether to eat either ‘Bread or the Herb of the Field.’ 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. viii. 229, I shall confine myself to St. Paul. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 462 Churchill was..directed to confine himself to thanks for what was past. |
† c. intr. for refl. Obs.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. v. 187 Children..permitted the freedome of both [hands], do oft times confine unto the left. 1672 ― Lett. Friend xxiv. (1881) 143 To separate from..received and customary felicities, and to confine unto the rigor of realities. |
† 8. To bind to, restrain from (an action). Obs.
| 1654 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 12 Having first confin'd him to an inviolable secresie. 1689 Shadwell Bury F. v. 211, I have confined you from flying. 1742 Lond. & Country Brewer i. (ed. 4) 8 The Maker..is hereby confined not to change his Malt. |
9. To restrain (the bowels) from acting, constipate; = bind v. 4.
| 1870 T. Holmes Syst. Surg. (ed. 2) IV. 831 The patient..should have a dose..in order that the bowels may be confined. |