minnow
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minnow
- /ˈmɪnəʊ/ UK
- /ˈmɪnoʊ/ US
Sounds like mino (etymology 1) · Rhymes with -ɪnəʊ
Where it comes from
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)”), from Old English *mynwe, an oblique form of *mynu, a variant of myne (“minnow; small fish”), 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”).
The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Middle Low German mone, möne (Dutch meun, West Frisian meun)
* Old High German muniwa, munuwa, munewa (modern German Münne (“minnow”))
* Latin mēna (“small sea-fish”)
noun minnows · minnie · minny · minow · menow · menoe
- Any of certain small fish. I have obſerved, as I have ſat by a ſpout of vvater, vvhich decſends from a ſtone trough about tvvo feet into a ſtream belovv, at particular ſeaſons of the year, a great number of little fiſh called minums, or pinks, throvv themſelves about tvventy times their ovvn length out of the vvater, expectin
- 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. 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
- Chiefly with a qualifying word: That fish or any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae.
- Any of those fish or other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families.
- 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).
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Synonym of stickleback (family Gasterosteidae).
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 particl
Similar: minim, pinkeen, stickleback
-
A person or thing of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
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.
Similar: nobody, no one, small fry, small potatoes, absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, Joe Nobody, little guy, minnow
-
a team that is considered less skilled and not expected to win many, if any, of its matches.
Germany, once a great footballing nation, four-time world champion, has shrunk to a footballing minnow.
Similar: nobody, no one, small fry, small potatoes, absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, Joe Nobody, little guy, minnow
- An artificial bait in the form of a small fish. […] 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: […]
adjective
- Very small; tiny.
verb minnows · minnowing · minnowed
- To fish for minnows (noun sense 1 and subsenses).
- To fish, especially for trout, using minnows as bait.
Translations
Every language
noun person or thing of relatively little consequence, importance, or value
| Português | peixe pequeno |
|---|
noun Phoxinus phoxinus
| Español | carpa, carpita |
|---|---|
| Português | vairão |
| Français | vairon |
| Deutsch | Bitterfisch, Elritze, Maipiere, Pfrille |
| Italiano | sanguinerola |
| Română | boiștean |
| Русский | голья́н golʹján |
verb to fish using minnows as bait
| Français | vaironner |
|---|
Talk about this word "minnow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/minnow. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. minnow. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/minnow "minnow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/minnow.Cite this
@misc{minnow_2026,
title = {minnow},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/minnow},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
