mince

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mincen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French mincier (“to make into small pieces”), also mincer,^[5][3][6] from Vulgar Latin *minūtiō (“to make small”),^[3][6][7][8] from minūtia (“smallness”),^[7][8][9] from minūtus (“small”),^[3][10][6] the past participle of minuō (“to make less”).^[4] Etymonline traces it further to Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“small”).^[3] The OED dates the French verb from the late 11th century and calls it a doublet of menuisier, the source of minish, arising as a variant with a different stress.^[5] The Anglo-Norman verb, recorded from the mid-12th century, already meant to chop into small pieces and to crumble.^[11] The same Latin adjective gave minute, menu and diminish.^[12][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To cut food, especially meat, into very small pieces: 1381, in cookery recipes ("Nym onyons and myce hem riȝt smal").^[5][2] Etymonline also dates the verb to the late 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the 15th century the verb was extended to cutting or smashing anything into small pieces.^[5] In the 16th century it was used figuratively of making something seem smaller: to mince the matter, to make light of it, is first found in Thomas More (1533),^[5][13] and the later not to mince matters or not to mince one's words means to speak plainly.^[5][12] Word Origins traces the sense "to express oneself moderately" to Shakespeare's Henry V: "I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say, I love you."^[12] From this came the sense of saying something in an affectedly refined way (1549),^[5][3] and then that of walking with short, dainty or affected steps, recorded from the 1560s.^[5][3][12] Dialects in Scotland, Shropshire, Berkshire and Devon still had the verb for walking or dancing in this mincing way in the 19th century.^[14] The noun, minced meat, is recorded from 1775,^[5] 1850 in Etymonline,^[3] and grew out of the use of the verb in compounds such as minced meat (1578), mincemeat (1747) and mince pie (about 1600).^[5][6][3] The mincemeat put in Christmas pies originally contained meat as well as fruit.^[12] Mince pies became rhyming slang for eyes by 1857, and mince alone by 1937;^[3][5] in Glasgow mince is also nonsense or rubbish (1985).^[5][15]

Timeline

• 1381 – to cut food into very small pieces.^[5][2][6]
• c. 1450 – to cut or break anything into small pieces.^[5]
• 1499 – chiefly Scottish, to diminish or take away from (obsolete by 1821).^[5]
• 1530 – mincing, affectedly dainty.^[6]
• 1533 – to mince the matter, to make light of it.^[5]
• 1549 – to utter in an affectedly refined way.^[5]
• c. 1562 – to walk with short, affected steps.^[5][3]
• 1578 – minced meat.^[6]
• c. 1600 – mince pie.^[3]
• 1747 – mincemeat.^[6]
• 1775 – noun, minced meat.^[5]
• 1857 – mince pies, rhyming slang for eyes.^[3]
• 1985 – Scottish, nonsense, rubbish.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cut or grind food, especially meat, into very small pieces: She minced two cloves of garlic for the sauce.^[15][8][5]
2. To soften or moderate one's words out of politeness, chiefly in the negative not mince (one's) words or not mince matters, to speak bluntly.^[15][5]
3. To walk with short, dainty steps, in an affected way: He minced across the stage in borrowed heels.^[15][5]
4. To say or speak in an affectedly refined way.^[5][8]

Noun

1. (chiefly British) Minced meat, especially minced beef; mincemeat.^[15][8][5]
2. (Scottish, informal) Nonsense or rubbish.^[15][5]

Word family

• mincer
• mincemeat
• mince pie

Related words

• minute
• minutia
• minish
• diminish
• menu

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins