Crossword clues for fineness
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Fineness \Fine"ness\, n. [From Fine, a.]
The quality or condition of being fine.
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Freedom from foreign matter or alloy; clearness; purity; as, the fineness of liquor.
The fineness of the gold, and chargeful fashion.
--Shak. -
The proportion of pure silver or gold in jewelry, bullion, or coins.
Note: The fineness of United States coin is nine tenths, that of English gold coin is eleven twelfths, and that of English silver coin is [frac925x1000].
Keenness or sharpness; as, the fineness of a needle's point, or of the edge of a blade.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1400, from fine (adj.) + -ness.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The quality or degree of being fine. 2 The ratio, in a precious metal, of the primary metal to any additives or impurities. 3 The ratio of a ship's length to her beam.
WordNet
n. the quality of being very good indeed; "the inn is distinguished by the fineness of its cuisine" [syn: choiceness]
the property of being very narrow or thin; "he marvelled at the fineness of her hair" [syn: thinness]
having a very fine texture; "the fineness of the sand on the beach" [syn: powderiness]
the quality of being beautiful and delicate in appearance; "the daintiness of her touch"; "the fineness of her features" [syn: daintiness, delicacy]
Wikipedia
The fineness of a precious metal refers to the ratio by weight of the primary metal to any added base metals or impurities. Many precious metals are used in the form of alloys. Other metals are added to increase hardness, to make the metal more practical for use in such items as coins and jewelry, or to decrease the cost of the alloy. For example, copper is added to the precious metal silver to make a more durable alloy for use in coins, housewares and jewelry. Coin silver, which was used for making silver coins in the past, contains 90% silver and 10% copper, by mass. Sterling silver contains 92.5% silver and 7.5%, by mass, of other metals, usually copper.
Various ways of expressing fineness have been used and two remain in common use: millesimal fineness expressed in units of parts per 1,000 and karats used only for gold. Karats measure the parts per 24, so that 18 karat = 18/24 = 75% and 24 karat gold is considered 100% gold.
Fineness can refer to:
- Fineness, a measure of the purity of precious metals
- Fineness modulus, a measurement of the coarseness of an aggregate
- Fineness ratio, in aerospace engineering, the length to width ratio of a streamlined body
Usage examples of "fineness".
Only those above sixteen karats are sent on here to Khanbalik, and only those assayed at the fineness of pure unalloyed gold, twenty-four karats, have any hope of getting near the great Khakhan.
Isaac has found ways to reduce the profit that the Goldsmiths reap when they deliver bullion to the Mint to be coined, and they have retaliated by crafting new trial plates of such fineness that Isaac has been hard pressed to mint guineas pure enough.
The artist is so impatient of dulness, so greedy of fineness, in all his relations, that he is apt to subject himself to a wasteful strain in talking to unperceptive and unappreciative persons.
The frieze which crowned her columns was composed of links of pale gold of the utmost fineness, and my fingers strove in vain to give them another direction to that which nature had given them.
The fineness of his behaviour when I was in prison had given me some idea of the nobility of his soul, but he was not content with this.
Compared with her strength Harry was only a windlestraw, and set against her spiritual fineness no more than a clod.
The buttons of bullion obtained are afterwards remelted with borax and run into bars, the fineness of which varies from 600 to 830 thousandths.
These include Chinese silk, embroidery in gold thread of extreme fineness and technical skill from Byzantium and the Orient, passementerie, heavy gold brocade, and plaited cords of the finest quality.
A set of sieves to determine the relative proportion of powders of different degrees of fineness is sometimes useful.
But they were obviously high slaves, judging by the fineness of their raiment.
Excessive fineness in pulverization of these soils is also to be guarded against in rainy climates, lest they run together, but this condition is present far less frequently than the opposite.
The fineness of his behaviour when I was in prison had given me some idea of the nobility of his soul, but he was not content with this.
Granted that no one can draw a clear line and define the limits within which a miracle is healthy working and beyond which it is unwholesome, any more than he can prescribe the exact degree of fineness to which we must comminute our food.
Early the next morning I called upon Count Dandini, the owner of the carriage, and as I passed a jeweller's shop I bought a pair of gold bracelets in Venetian filigree, each five yards long and of rare fineness.
There you are, hooded like a mother abbess, but in spite of the fineness of the sheath I like the little fellow better quite naked.