mint

Mint, the herb, and mint, a place where money is coined, are separate words, both early borrowings from Latin.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mɪnt/^[4]

mint¹ herb

Etymology

The herb is inherited from Middle English minte, inherited from Old English minte,^[1][5][3] from Proto-West Germanic *minta,^[5][3][6] borrowed from Latin menta, also mentha,^[1][5][3][6] from Ancient Greek μίνθη (mínthē),^[5][3][2] probably a loanword from a lost Mediterranean language.^[5][6] Other early Germanic borrowings are Old Saxon minta, Middle Dutch mente and Old High German minza (modern German Minze).^[1][5] In Greek myth Minthe was a nymph whom Proserpine turned into the herb.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before 800 in Barnhart, about 975 in the OED, the 8th century in Etymonline.^[1][7][5]

Semantic evolution

The same Greek word lies behind menthol, from the mid-19th century.^[2] A sweet flavoured with mint is also called a mint.^[8]

Timeline

• before 800 – minte.^[1]
• c. 975 – mint, the herb.^[7]
• mid-19th century – menthol.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of various aromatic plants of the genus Mentha, whose leaves are used for flavouring.
2. A sweet flavoured with mint.

Word family

• peppermint
• spearmint
• minty

mint² money

Etymology

The place for coining is inherited from Middle English mynt, inherited from Old English mynet (“coin, money”),^[1][5][3][6] from Proto-West Germanic *munita, borrowed from Latin monēta (“mint, coin, money”) (see money),^{[1][5][3][6][2]} which also gave Old Frisian menote, Old Saxon munita, Middle Dutch munte and Old High German munizza (modern German Münze).^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A coin, money: about 700 in Barnhart, about 725 in the OED; the sense survived after the 16th century only in Scots.^[1][7]

Semantic evolution

A place where money is coined is from 1423;^[1][7] an earlier word for it was minter (early 12th century).^[5] Figuratively, a place where anything is made is from 1555,^[7] and a vast sum of money from the 1650s,^[5][7] though people have made a mint since the late 16th century.^[2] The verb, to coin money, is from about 1520 in Merriam-Webster, 1546 in Barnhart,^[6][1] and the mint mark from 1797.^[5] In mint condition, as good as a newly minted coin, is from 1902.^[1][6][2]

Timeline

• c. 725 – a coin, money.^[7]
• 1423 – a place for coining.^[1][7]
• c. 1520 – to mint (verb).^[6]
• 1650s – a vast sum of money.^[5]
• 1797 – mint mark.^[5]
• 1902 – mint condition.^[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A place where coins are made by government authority.
2. A place where something is invented or produced.
3. (informal) A vast amount of money: to make a mint.

Verb

1. To make coins by stamping metal.
2. To invent or fabricate.

Adjective

1. In perfect condition, as if new: in mint condition.

Word family

• mintage
• minter

Related words

• money
• monetary
• calamint
• menthol

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins