The Definition Of Fine in Musical Terms

Whether you are trying to study for an exam in music class or you just want to know more about the language of music, you should understand the definition of fine in musical terms.

What Does Fine Mean?

In musical terms, fine simply means the end of a piece of work. However, "fine" can also mean the end in other ways as well. If you are reading an older book, you might see the word "fine" used to describe the end of someone's life.

History Of the Word "Fine" in Musical Terms

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first time that "fine" appeared to mean the end of something, was in a work from Middle English referred to as Trin.Coll.Hom. The line number was 258 and it said, "Pine wioute fine." Most likely, that line translates into "pain without end," except the writer used the word "fine" instead of "end." After that, the word "fine" came to be used in a variety of different disciplines to describe the end.

Earlier though, we touched on the note that you are not going to hear the word "fine" used all that frequently in this sense nowadays. It has become almost exclusively a property of the musical field at this point. Some of the last times that we saw fine pop up in other fields were at the following points in history:

• In 1848, the work Festus proclaimed, "Open thine arms O death! thou fine of woe."
• In 1849, the author Ruskin wrote, "We have, in fine, attained the power of going fast."
• In 1615, the writer G. Sandys declared, "Vntill the fine of December."

Clearly, music is the field which has kept this particular definition of "fine" alive longer than the others.