Refinement

Refinement
Refinement Re*fine"ment (r?*f?n"ment), n. [Cf. F. raffinement.] 1. The act of refining, or the state of being refined; as, the refinement or metals; refinement of ideas. [1913 Webster]

The more bodies are of kin to spirit in subtilty and refinement, the more diffusive are they. --Norris. [1913 Webster]

From the civil war to this time, I doubt whether the corruptions in our language have not equaled its refinements. --Swift. [1913 Webster]

2. That which is refined, elaborated, or polished to excess; an affected subtilty; as, refinements of logic. ``The refinements of irregular cunning.'' --Rogers. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Purification; polish; politeness; gentility; elegance; cultivation; civilization. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Refinement — may refer to:* Equilibrium refinement, the identification of actualized equilibria in game theory * Program refinement, the verifiable transformation of a formal specification into source code which can be compiled into an executable program *… …   Wikipedia

  • refinement — UK US /rɪˈfaɪnmənt/ noun ► [U] PRODUCTION the process of making a substance pure: »The refinement of raw opium yields other drugs, such as morphine. ► [C or U] a small change that improves something: »These refinements have increased the machine… …   Financial and business terms

  • refinement — [n1] cleansing clarification, cleaning, depuration, detersion, distillation, draining, filtering, processing, purification, rarefaction, rectification; concept 165 Ant. corruption, dirtying, pollution refinement [n2] cultivation, civilization… …   New thesaurus

  • refinement — index amendment (correction), amenity, civilization, clarification, courtesy, decorum, development ( …   Law dictionary

  • refinement — (n.) 1610s, act or process of refining, from REFINE (Cf. refine) + MENT (Cf. ment). Meaning fineness of feeling is from 1708 …   Etymology dictionary

  • refinement — *culture, cultivation, breeding Analogous words: suavity, urbanity (see corresponding adjectives at SUAVE): courtesy, politeness, civility (see corresponding adjectives at CIVIL): *elegance, grace, dignity Antonyms: vulgarity …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • refinement — ► NOUN 1) the process of refining. 2) an improvement or clarification brought about by the making of small changes. 3) cultured elegance or superior taste …   English terms dictionary

  • refinement — [ri fīn′mənt] n. 1. a) a refining or being refined b) the result of this 2. delicacy or elegance of language, speech, manners, etc.; polish; cultivation 3. a development; improvement; elaboration 4. a fine distinction; subtlety …   English World dictionary

  • refinement — noun 1 improvement to/on sth; process of improving sth ADJECTIVE ▪ considerable, great ▪ A greater refinement of the categorization is possible. ▪ extra, further ▪ constant …   Collocations dictionary

  • refinement — re|fine|ment [rıˈfaınmənt] n 1.) an improvement, usually a small one, to something ▪ The new model has a number of refinements. 2.) something which is an improved ↑version of an existing product, system etc refinement of ▪ The new theory is a… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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