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e from dross or alloy; to separate from extraneous matter; to purify; to defecate; as, to refine gold or silver; to refine iron; to refine wine or sugar. I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined. Zech. xiii. 9.

Freed from impurities or alloy; purifed; polished; cultured; delicate; as; refined gold; refined language; refined sentiments. Refined wits who honored poesy with their pens. Peacham. -- Re*fin"ed*ly (r, adv. -- Re*fin"ed*ness, n.

The act of refining, or the state of being refined; as, the refinement or metals; refinement of ideas. The more bodies are of kin to spirit in subtilty and refinement, the more diffusive are they. Norris. From the civil war to this time, I doubt whether the corruptions in our language have not equaled its refinements.…

One who, or that which, refines.

A furnace in which cast iron is refined by the action of a blast on the molten metal.

To refine too much.

Excessive refinement.

To limit beforehand. [Obs.] Knolles.

To refine. [Obs.] Holland.

Belonging to Apicius, a notorious Roman epicure; hence applied to whatever is peculiarly refined or dainty and expensive in cookery. H. Rogers.

ncipal city; marked by such qualities as were characteristic of the Athenians; classical; refined. Attic base (Arch.), a peculiar form of molded base for a column or pilaster, described by Vitruvius, applied under the Roman Empire to the Ionic and Corinthian and "Roman Doric" orders, and imitated by the architects of t…

g. Augustan age of any national literature, the period of its highest state of purity and refinement; -- so called because the reign of Augustus Cæsar was the golden age of Roman literature. Thus the reign of Louis XIV. (b. 1638) has been called the Augustan age of French literature, and that of Queen Anne (b. 1664) th…

ng to, or resembling, an uncivilized person or people; barbarous; barbarian; destitute of refinement. "Wild, barbaric music." Sir W. Scott.

om the finer particles of, as bran from flour, by means of a bolter; to separate, assort, refine, or purify by other means. He now had bolted all the flour. Spenser. Ill schooled in bolted language. Shak.

A husbandman; a peasant; a rustic; esp. a clownish or unrefined countryman.

d to domestic animals.] (b) Well brought up, as shown in having good manners; cultivated; refined; polite.

Raw sugar; sugar not refined. Mc Elrath.

Pure in design and expression; correct; free from barbarisms or vulgarisms; refined; simple; as, a chaste style in composition or art. That great model of chaste, lofty, and eloquence, the Book of Common Prayer. Macaulay.

To purify from errors or faults; to refine. They [classics] chasten and enlarge the mind, and excite to noble actions. Layard.

Corrected; disciplined; refined; purified; toned down. Sir. W. Scott. Of such a finished chastened purity. Tennyson.