fineness noun. ['fʌɪnnɪs] LME.
[from FINE adjective + -NESS.]
1. gen. The quality or state of being fine. LME.
■ Leigh Hunt He wrote to the Prince of Orange upon the fineness of his troops.
■ W. S. Landor As little as a silkworm knows about the fineness of her thread.

2. Purity of a metal, degree of freedom from alloy. Now spec. the number of parts per thousand of gold or silver in an alloy. L15.

3. Astuteness, cunning; an artifice, a stratagem. Now rare. E16.

Comb.:
fineness ratio the ratio of length to width in a ship's hull, aircraft fuselage, etc.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲