The Fine reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Fine

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A fine is money paid as a financial punishment for the commission of minor crimes or as the settlement of a claim. A synonym is mulct.

Common examples of fines are monies paid for violations of traffic laws. Fines can also be used as a form of tax.


Do not confuse fines with bail.

A fine for alienation, in feudal law, is a sum of money paid to the lord by a tenant whenever he had occasion to make over his land to another. A fine of lands is 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.