Join free

mignon

English · Français · Deutsch · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

mignon¹

  • /ˈmɪnjɒn/ UK
  • /ˈmɪnjɑ̃/ UK
  • /mɪnˈjɑn/ US

Rhymes with (UK) -ɒn, (US) -ɑn

Where it comes from

From French mignon, from Middle French mignon (“lover, darling, favourite”), from Old French mignon (“dainty, pleasing, gentle, kind”), from Frankish *minnju (“love, friendship, affection, memory”), from Proto-Germanic *minjō (“affectionate thought, care”), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”). Cognate with Old High German minna (“love, care, affection, desire, memory”), Old Saxon minnia (“love”). More at mind. Compare Dutch minnen (“to love”). Doublet of minion.

adjective more mignon · most mignon

  1. Small and cute; pretty in a delicate way; dainty. "Will you not wear these to-morrow?" said the King, offering one pair to Madame de Merœur; then, turning to her sister, he added, "I only hope yours are small enough for those mignon hands."

noun mignons

  1. obsolete, rare A cute or pretty person; a dandy; a pretty child. “I wish the blow he dealt to that fine essenced mignon had beat his brains out.”

    Similar: exquisite, fopling, barbermonger, beau, blade, blood, buck, carpet knight, cockscomb, dandy, dike, dood

  2. historical One of the court favourites of Henry III of France. When the mignons, barefoot and clad in sacks with holes for their heads and feet, marched with Henry in a penitential procession, lashing their backs, one wit opined that they should have aimed their blows lower.

Mignon²

Where it comes from

Borrowed from French Mignon.

* (surname): Occasionally of Walloon origin.

proper noun the Mignon

  1. A left tributary of the Sèvre Niortaise in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.

proper noun Mignons

  1. A female given name from French. 'Yes,' said Mignon, and stretched out her hand for it, but they would not let her take it back.
  2. A surname from French.

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"mignon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mignon. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

mignon. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mignon

Chicago

"mignon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mignon.

BibTeX
@misc{mignon_2026,
  title = {mignon},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mignon},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}