minnow

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English

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WOTD – 14 August 2023

Etymology

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The common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus; sense 1.1), the type species of the genus Phoxinus.
A common galaxias, inanga, or jollytail (Galaxias maculatus), also known in Australia and New Zealand as a minnow (sense 1.3).
A three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), known by some in Britain as a minnow (sense 1.4).

The noun is derived from Late Middle English menew, menowe (“small fish; (specifically) common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus); or stickleback (possibly the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus)”),[1] from Old English *mynwe, an oblique form of *mynu, a variant of myne (“minnow; small fish”),[2] from Proto-West Germanic *muniwu (“minnow; small fish”), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“small”). Possibly influenced by Anglo-Norman menu (“small”) and Old French menu (“small”), and English minim (“anything very minute; applied to animalcula and the like”).[2]

The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.

cognates

Pronunciation

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Noun

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minnow (plural minnows)

  1. Any small fish.
    Synonyms: minim, (Ireland) pinkeen
    2. The common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), a small freshwater fish of the carp family Cyprinidae which has a green back with black elongated blotches, commonly swimming in large shoals.
      Synonyms: (Britain, dialectal, obsolete) penk, (Ireland) pinkeen
      • 2004, Robert G. Werner, “Carps and Minnows: Family Cyprinidae”, in Freshwater Fishes of the Northeastern United States: A Field Guide, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 74:
        Most minnows are small fish with cycloid scales, soft rays supporting their fins, and toothless jaws. Some possess barbels on their upper jaw, and many species develop nuptial tubercles during the breeding season. […] Minnows are arguably the most difficult group of freshwater fishes to identify, in part because they are often small and thus the characters distinguishing them are correspondingly small.
    3. Chiefly with a qualifying word: any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae; also (chiefly US), other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families.
      Synonym: minim
    5. (Australia, New Zealand) Synonym of galaxiid (“any member of the family Galaxiidae of mostly small freshwater fish of the Southern Hemisphere”); specifically, the common galaxias, inanga, or jollytail (Galaxias maculatus).
    7. (British, regional) Synonym of stickleback (family Gasterosteidae).
      • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter XIX, in Wild Life in a Southern County […], London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 356:
        In quiet, sheltered places, where the water is clear but does not run too swiftly, the ‘minnie,’ as the stickleback is locally called, makes its nest by the bank. […] On these fibres the ova are deposited, and they are then either purposely partly covered with sand by the minnie, or else the particles that are brought down by the current gather over the bundle of fibres and conceal it, excepting one small spot.
  2. (figuratively) A person or thing of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
    Synonyms: nobody, no one, small fry, small potatoes; see also Thesaurus:nonentity
    • 1596, Tho[mas] Nashe, “Dialogus”, in Haue with You to Saffron-Walden. Or, Gabriell Harveys Hunt is Up. […], London: […] John Danter, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Have with You to Saffron-Walden (Miscellaneous Tracts; Temp. Eliz. and Jac. I), [London: s.n., 1870], →OCLC, page 88:
      Let him denie that there was another shewe made of the little minnow his Brother, Dodrans Dicke, at Peter-houſe, called, Duns furens. Dick Harvey in a frenſie.
    • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 15, column 1:
      Heare you this Triton of the Minnoues?
    • 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Recognizant and Reflective”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 449:
      [H]e was in the receipt of some per centage on its dealings; and, participating in all its facilities for the employment of money to advantage, was considered, by the minnows among the tritons of the East, a rich man.
    • 2011 January 29, Chris Bevan, “Torquay 0 – 1 Crawley Town”, in BBC Sport‎[1], archived from the original on 2023-04-06:
      Having spent more than £500,000 on players last summer, Crawley can hardly be classed as minnows but they have still punched way above their weight and this kind of performance means no-one will relish pulling them out of the hat in Sunday's draw.
    • 2023 December 23, Daria Mosolova, “Russian copycat start-ups rush to fill gaps left by exodus of western brands”, in FT Weekend, Companies & Markets, page 11:
      […] Swed House signed contracts with Ikea's former production sites, swelling from being an online retailer into an operation employing 100 people and running 10 shops across Russia and Belarus […] . But it remains a minnow compared with its Swedish predecessor, which employed 15,000 people and made $1.5bn in revenues during its last financial year in Russia.
  3. (fishing) An artificial bait in the form of a small fish.
    • 1676, Izaak Walton, “[The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation: Part I […].] More Directions How to Fish for, and How to Make for the Trout an Artificial Minnow and Flies; with Some Merriment.”, in Richard Le Gallienne, editor, The Compleat Angler, 5th edition, London; New York, N.Y.: John Lane, The Bodley Head, published 1897, →OCLC, page 107:
      […] I have (which I will show you) an artificial minnow, that will catch a trout as well as an artificial fly, and it was made by a handsome woman that had a fine hand, and a live minnow lying by her: […]

Alternative forms

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Hyponyms

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Family Cyprinidae
Other families

Derived terms

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Translations

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Adjective

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minnow

  1. (rare) Very small; tiny.

Translations

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Verb

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minnow (third-person singular simple present minnows, present participle minnowing, simple past and past participle minnowed) (intransitive, fishing)

  1. To fish for minnows (noun sense 1 and subsenses).
  2. To fish, especially for trout, using minnows as bait.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “meneu, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Compare “minnow, n. and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “minnow, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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