Mini Escaped From the Word Miniature
Mini means very small. It broke free from a longer word and became a prefix of its own.
Mini means very small, and stands alone as a noun for a short skirt or a small car. It was cut out of *miniature*, but that word never meant small to begin with: a miniature was a manuscript illustration painted with *minium*, red lead, and the pictures happened to be tiny. The association with smallness came from the pictures, not the word, and *mini* then broke off as a productive prefix in the 1960s. *Minimum* and *minor* are unrelated in origin, though they reinforced the sense.
- Very small. *A mini version.*
- A short skirt. *A mini.*
- A small car. *A Mini.*
- Miniature — the source. *A miniature.*
- Latin — *minium*, red lead. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Prefix | mini- | Minibus. |
| Noun | mini | A mini. |
| Source | miniature | A miniature. |
| Related | minium | Red lead. |
| Related | miniate | To paint in red. |
- A mini fridge.Prefix.
- Miniature meant painted in red lead.History.
- Mini spread in the 1960s.Usage.
Prefixes cut from longer words
- Mini- — from miniature
- Maxi- — coined to oppose mini
- Cyber- — from cybernetics
- Alco- — from alcohol, as in alcopop
- Such fragments are called libfixes
Shortened from *miniature*, from Italian *miniatura*, from Latin *miniare*, to paint with *minium*, red lead.
Did miniature always mean small?
No. It named a manuscript illustration painted with red lead. Those pictures were small, and the word took on the sense of smallness from them.
Where does the prefix mini- come from?
It was cut out of miniature and became productive in its own right during the 1960s.