资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Fine \Fine\, n. [OE. fin, L. finis end, also in LL., a final
   agreement or concord between the lord and his vassal; a sum
   of money paid at the end, so as to make an end of a
   transaction, suit, or prosecution; mulct; penalty; cf. OF.
   fin end, settlement, F. fin end. See {Finish}, and cf.
   {Finance}.]
   1. End; conclusion; termination; extinction. [Obs.] ``To see
      their fatal fine.'' --Spenser.

            Is this the fine of his fines?        --Shak.

   2. A sum of money paid as the settlement of a claim, or by
      way of terminating a matter in dispute; especially, a
      payment of money imposed upon a party as a punishment for
      an offense; a mulct.

   3. (Law)
      (a) (Feudal Law) A final agreement concerning lands or
          rents between persons, as the lord and his vassal.
          --Spelman.
      (b) (Eng. Law) A sum of money or price paid for obtaining
          a benefit, favor, or privilege, as for admission to a
          copyhold, or for obtaining or renewing a lease.

   {Fine for alienation} (Feudal Law), a sum of money paid to
      the lord by a tenant whenever he had occasion to make over
      his land to another. --Burrill.

   {Fine of lands}, a species of conveyance in the form of a
      fictitious suit compromised or terminated by the
      acknowledgment of the previous owner that such land was
      the right of the other party. --Burrill. See {Concord},
      n., 4.

   {In fine}, in conclusion; by way of termination or summing
      up.