mitten English · revision 858

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmɪtən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|mitain]], [[bor|fro|mitaine|t=mitten, half-glove]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) It may come from Old French ''mite'' “mitten”, perhaps originally a pet name for a cat,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) or from Medieval Latin ''mitta'', perhaps from Middle High German ''mittemo'' “middle”, as a “half-glove”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A covering for the hand with a separate place for the thumb but none for the fingers (c. 1386 in the OED; about 1390 in Barnhart);^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) it is found earlier as a surname (1248).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1755 the word also named a lace or knitted silk glove covering the forearm, wrist and part of the hand, fashionable among women in the early 19th century.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The colloquial phrase ''to get the mitten'', of a suitor, “to be rejected” (1825–38), came from the idea of receiving the mitten instead of the hand.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In slang ''mittens'' meant the hands, boxing gloves or handcuffs.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1248 – as a surname.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1386 – a mitten.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1755 – a lace or silk half-glove.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1825 – ''to get the mitten'', to be rejected.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A covering for the hand that encloses the four fingers together and the thumb separately.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[mitt]].^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mittened]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mitt]]

+ * [[glove]]

+ * [[gauntlet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}