mink

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mink, also mynk,^[2][3][4] apparently borrowed from Middle Low German menk, also meync and mink, a mink or its pelt, whose further origin is unknown.^[5] Other dictionaries take it from Scandinavian,^[6][4][7][8] comparing Swedish menk or mänk,^{[6][9][10][11]} which Etymonline glosses "a stinking animal in Finland".^[6] The OED considers the Swedish word (1533) a borrowing from Middle Low German as well, and Finnish minkki a borrowing from Swedish.^[5] The Middle English Dictionary calls the origin obscure,^[2] and Hoad and the Shorter Oxford compare Low German mink (“otter”).^[10][9] According to the OED, German Mink, Swedish mink (1702) and Norwegian Bokmål mink came from English, probably with the trade in North American mink pelts, which were prized above the European ones.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The skin or pelt of the European mink, usually in the plural: 1431, in a will from York, in which a gown is furred with mynkes.^[5][2][4] In English the word named the fur before the animal.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English records are all about furs: in 1450 a woman is left a gown furred with mynkys, and in 1466 twenty minks are bought from a skinner of Bury.^[2] The pelt sense died out in the early 18th century.^[5] The name was applied to the animal in the early 17th century, and to the larger North American species by Captain John Smith: the OED's first record is from his Map of Virginia (1612),^[5] Barnhart's and Etymonline's from his Generall Historie of Virginia (1624).^[4][6] From 1870 the word again meant the fur itself, then a coat or stole made of it (1932) and a dark brown colour (1955).^[5] The adjective is also used figuratively for "opulent, wealthy" (1965),^[5] and the South African phrase mink and manure, for the wealthy inhabitants of Johannesburg's northern suburbs (1981).^[5] In American slang a mink has been an attractive young woman since the 19th century; compare fox and minx.^[5][12]

Timeline

• 1431 – the skin or pelt of a mink (obsolete by 1707).^[5][2][4]
• 1612 – the animal, especially the North American species.^[5] Barnhart and Etymonline date the animal sense to 1624.^[4][6]
• 1848 – American slang, a pretty young woman.^[12] The OED's first record of this sense is from 1899.^[5]
• 1859 – adjective, of a garment: made of mink.^[5]
• 1862 – minkery, a place where minks are bred.^[6]
• 1870 – the thick brown fur of the mink, used for coats and trimmings.^[5]
• 1932 – a garment made of mink.^[5]
• 1955 – a dark brown colour like mink fur.^[5]
• 1965 – figurative adjective, opulent, wealthy.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Either of two small semiaquatic carnivorous mammals resembling the stoat, with slightly webbed feet, native to Europe, Asia and North America; the American species is widely farmed for its fur.^[7][3][5]
2. The soft, thick, glossy brown fur of this animal: a jacket trimmed with mink.^[7][3][5]
3. A coat, stole or other garment made of this fur: She wore her mink to the opera.^[7][3][5]
4. A dark brown colour like that of mink fur.^[5][9]
5. (US slang) An attractive young woman.^[5][12]

Adjective

1. Made of mink: a mink stole.^[5][9]
2. (figurative) Opulent or wealthy.^[5]

Related words

• minx

Usage notes

A separate Scots word mink, a noose or halter, and figuratively a snare or difficulty, is recorded from 1801; the OED derives it from Scottish Gaelic muince, a collar, and Wright records it as a ring of straw or rushes in Aberdeenshire.^[5][13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
9. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ 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)