Link Centre Dictionary

mitten

mit·ten

UK/ˈmɪtən/ US/ˈmɪtn̩/ rare dated informal slang

noun

1.

glove that encases the thumb separately and the other four fingers together

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English myteyne, from Old French mitaine (Modern French mitaine), of unclear origin; possibly from mite, miste (“playful name for cat”) + -aine. Alternatively, mitaine may be from Old High German mittamo (“half”), superlative of mitti (“midpoint”), from Proto-Germanic *midjô, *midją (“middle, center”), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, center”). Compare Catalan mitana, Medieval Latin mitta, mitana, and Occitan mitana.

Phrases

  • Chinese mitten crab
  • give someone the mitten
  • give the mitten to
  • murder mitten
  • squish mitten

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.