REFINEMENT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does refinement mean? 

• REFINEMENT (noun)
  The noun REFINEMENT has 5 senses:

1. a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality

2. the result of improving something

3. the process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or sugar etc.)

4. a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude

5. the quality of excellence in thought and manners and taste

  Familiarity information: REFINEMENT used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REFINEMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

cultivation; culture; finish; polish; refinement

Context example:

almost an inspiration which gives to all work that finish which is almost art

Hypernyms ("refinement" is a kind of...):

flawlessness; ne plus ultra; perfection (the state of being without a flaw or defect)

Derivation:

refine (improve or perfect by pruning or polishing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The result of improving something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

elaboration; refinement

Context example:

he described a refinement of this technique

Hypernyms ("refinement" is a kind of...):

advance; betterment; improvement (a change for the better; progress in development)

Derivation:

refine (improve or perfect by pruning or polishing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or sugar etc.)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

purification; refinement; refining

Hypernyms ("refinement" is a kind of...):

processing (preparing or putting through a prescribed procedure)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "refinement"):

rectification ((chemistry) the process of refinement or purification of a substance by distillation)

Derivation:

refine (reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities)

refine (treat or prepare so as to put in a usable condition)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

nicety; nuance; refinement; shade; subtlety

Context example:

don't argue about shades of meaning

Hypernyms ("refinement" is a kind of...):

import; meaning; significance; signification (the message that is intended or expressed or signified)

Derivation:

refine (make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The quality of excellence in thought and manners and taste

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

civilisation; civilization; refinement

Context example:

he is remembered for his generosity and civilization

Hypernyms ("refinement" is a kind of...):

excellence (the quality of excelling; possessing good qualities in high degree)

 Context examples 

One should be sorry to see greater pride or refinement in the teacher of a school, Harriet.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Vulgarity—a hearty vulgarity, I'll admit—is the basis of bourgeois refinement and culture.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Research project involving detection of breast tumors (screening, diagnosis clinical trials), development or refinement of diagnostic techniques or devices, education or promotion of breast cancer detection.

(Breast Cancer Detection Research, NCI Thesaurus)

The denizens of the forest cannot, of course, expect to participate in the refinements of the land of the Free.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The device still needs to undergo a long process of adjustment and refinement.

(Transistor that mimics neurons developed, SciDev.Net)

I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished society.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He professed both to abominate and despise all mystery, refinement, and intrigue, either in a prince or a minister.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Here first, after the meagre fare of Beaulieu and the stinted board of the Lady Loring, Alleyne learned the lengths to which luxury and refinement might be pushed.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of refinement and delicacy in his bearing.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

That time, however, did gradually come, forwarded by an affection on his side as warm as her own, and much less encumbered by refinement or self-distrust.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)