▪ I. superfine, a. (n.)
(ˈs(j)uːpəfaɪn, s(j)uːpəˈfaɪn)
[ad. med.L. *superfīnus (implied in superfīnitās): see super- 9 a and fine a. Cf. F. superfin (also surfin), Sp., Pg. superfino, also It. sopraffino, Sp. sobrefino.]
A. adj.
† 1. ? Exceedingly subtle. Obs. rare.
| c 1440 Lydg. Hors, Shepe, & G. 313 This Agnus dei..Which wessh a-wey all venym superfyne On Calverie. |
2. Excessively refined, nice, fastidious, or elegant; over-refined, over-nice.
| 1575 Gascoigne Making of Verse Wks. 1907 I. 465 Many inventions are so superfine, that they are Vix good. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 51 She heard him so superfine, as if Ephæbus had learnd him to refine his mother tongue. 1622 Venner Via Recta (ed. 2) 170 Them that out of a superfine daintinesse cannot liue but by sweete meates. 1695 Locke Reason. Chr. (1696) 305 The bulk of Mankind have not leisure for Learning and Logick, and superfine distinctions of the Schools. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Man of Many Fr. (Colburn) 136 A pair of superfine ladies' footmen. 1830 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. 264 (Two Dolls) The care of his granddaughter left entirely to a vulgar old nurse and a super⁓fine housekeeper. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. i. iii, Madame..trains up a youthful D'Orléans generation in what super⁓finest morality one can. |
3. † Consisting of very fine particles or threads (obs.). Also of a file with extremely fine teeth.
| 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. ii. lxxi. 348 Princes were now no longer able..to throw dust in their Subjects Eyes, though it were most artificial and superfine. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Superfine, very fine or thin; as Superfine Wire, Thread, Cards, &c. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Superfine... The Term is particularly used among Gold Wiar-drawers, for the Gold or Silver-wiar, which after being drawn through an infinite Number of Holes, each less and less, is, at length, brought not to be bigger than a Hair. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2455/1 Super⁓fine File, a dead-smooth file. |
4. Of manufactured goods: Extremely fine in quality; of the very best kind; (of liquid) the purest or clearest.
| 1682 Rec. Scott. Cloth Manuf. New Mills (S.H.S.) 40 John Rae is ordered when he gives out wool..to sett down a letter for a distinction that is C for course M for midleing F for fine and S.F. for super fine. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 332 Till you observe your Cyder to be very transparent, which then may be called Superfine. 1710 Tatler No. 245 ¶2 Seven cakes of superfine Spanish wool. 1774 Chesterfield's Lett. (1792) I. 238 The very best wool, which we make use of here in manufacturing our superfine cloths. 1818 Byron Juan i. cxcviii, The wax was superfine, its hue vermilion. 1872 L. P. Meredith Teeth (1878) 12 The bread, pastry, cake, etc., so much in use and made of superfine flour. |
5. Superlatively fine or excellent.
| 1850 E. FitzGerald Let. to J. Allen 9 Mar., I have read but very little of late; indeed my eyes have not been in super⁓fine order. 1885 Ruskin Præterita I. ii. 47 In the fixed purpose of making an ecclesiastical gentleman of me, with the superfinest of manners. |
B. n. pl. Goods of superfine quality.
| 1812 Bigland Beauties Eng. & Wales XVI. 787 The chief manufacture..is cloth, which was formerly almost wholly of the coarser kinds; but the manufacture of superfines has of late..increased. 1880 J. Dunbar Pract. Papermaker 20 Superfines, 1/4; Spanish Esparto, Fine, 1/4. |
▪ II. † ˈsuperfine, v. Obs. rare—1.
[f. prec. adj.]
intr. To refine too much.
| 1702 Penn Maxims §209 He that superfines upon other Men's Actions, cozens himself, as well as injures them. |