mince
/mɪns/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.02 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To lessen; to diminish; to diminish in speaking; to speak of lightly or slightingly; to minimise.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Mince tastes really good fried in a pan with some chopped onion and tomato."
- "During Christmas time my dad loves to eat mince pies."
- "A wiry little girl in a starched, lemon-colored party dress, she sassed along with a grownup mince, one hand on her hip, the other supporting a spinsterish umbrella."
- "She was just the same; she had a light way of walking and she always wore flat heels so she didn't have that mince like most girls."
- "His skin was china pale, he walked with a slight mince, and his silver mustache was always trimmed sharp; it was his custom to send a bouquet of pink carnations to the wives of men with whom he dined."
- "A very moderate degree of accomplishment in this direction would make an end of stage smart speech, which, like the got-up Oxford mince and drawl of a foolish curate, is the mark of a snob."
Etymology
From Middle English mincen, minsen; partly from Old English minsian, ġeminsian (“to make less, make smaller, diminish”), from Proto-West Germanic *minnisōn, from Proto-Germanic *minnisōną (“to make less”); partly from Old French mincer, mincier (“to cut into small pieces”), from mince (“slender, slight, puny”), from Frankish *minsto, *minnisto, superlative of *min, *minn (“small, less”), from Proto-Germanic *minniz (“less”); both from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small, little”). Cognate with Old Saxon minsōn (“to make less, make smaller”), Old Dutch minson (“to make smaller”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌶𐌽𐌰𐌽 (minznan, “to become less, diminish”), Swedish minska (“to reduce, lessen”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (mins, “slender, slight”). More at min.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /mɪns/
- British English: /mɪns/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Food.