Link Centre Dictionary

mince

US/mɪns/ uncommon archaic rare slang uk
verb (3) noun (1)

verb

1.

make less severe or harsh

  • “He moderated his tone when the students burst out in tears”
Synonyms
2.

walk daintily

  • “She minced down the street”
3.

cut into small pieces

  • “mince the garlic”

noun

1.

food chopped into small bits

  • “a mince of mushrooms”

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • mince matters
  • mince one's words
  • mince pie
  • mince up
  • mince words
  • thick as mince

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.