Etymologically
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mint

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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

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