Mince Means Ground Beef in Britain
To mince is to cut into very small pieces. In British English mince is also the noun for what Americans call ground beef.
To mince is to cut food into very small pieces. British English also uses *mince* as a noun for minced meat — what Americans call *ground beef* — which is why a British recipe for mince and a supermarket sign saying mince mean the meat, not the action. *Mincemeat*, confusingly, now usually contains no meat at all, only dried fruit and spices. *Not mincing your words* means speaking bluntly, from the idea of chopping speech into softer pieces.
- To chop finely. *Mince the garlic.*
- Minced meat (British). *A pound of mince.*
- Ground beef — the American term. *Ground beef.*
- Mincemeat — a fruit filling. *Mince pies.*
- Not mince words — to speak bluntly. *He didn't mince words.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | mince | Mince it. |
| Past | minced | Minced onion. |
| Noun (UK) | mince | Beef mince. |
| Compound | mincemeat | Mincemeat. |
| Compound | mincer | A mincer. |
- Brown the mince in a pan.British.
- Mince the parsley finely.Verb.
- Mince pies contain no meat.Modern recipe.
Why mince pies lost their meat
- Medieval mincemeat genuinely contained minced meat and suet
- Spices and dried fruit were added as preservatives
- The meat gradually shrank in the recipe from the 1700s
- By the twentieth century most recipes dropped it entirely
- Suet often remains, so some mince pies are still not vegetarian
Old French *mincier*, to cut into small pieces, from Vulgar Latin *minutiare*, from Latin *minutus*, small.
What do Americans call mince?
Ground beef, or ground meat generally. Mince as a noun is British and Commonwealth usage.
Do mince pies contain meat?
Not usually today, though many still contain suet. Medieval versions genuinely did contain minced meat.