mince

Meanings

Plural: minces

Noun

food chopped into small bits
- "a mince of mushrooms"
Finely chopped meat; minced meat.
Finely chopped mixed fruit used in Christmas pies; mincemeat.
An affected (often dainty or short and precise) gait.
An affected manner, especially of speaking; an affectation.
An eye (from mince pie).
Something worthless; rubbish.

Verb

make less severe or harsh
walk daintily
- "She minced down the street"
cut into small pieces
- "mince the garlic"
To make less; to make small.
To lessen; to diminish; to diminish in speaking; to speak of lightly or slightingly; to minimise.
To effect mincingly.
To cut into very small pieces; to chop finely.
To suppress or weaken the force of.
To say or utter vaguely (not directly or frankly).
To affect; to pronounce affectedly or with an accent.
To walk with short steps; to walk in a prim, affected manner.
To act or talk with affected nicety; to affect delicacy in manner.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English mincen, minsen; partly from Old English minsian, ġeminsian (“to make less, make smaller, diminish”), from Proto-West Germanic *minnisōn, from Proto-Germanic *minnisōną (“to make less”); partly from Old French mincer, mincier (“to cut into small pieces”), from mince (“slender, slight, puny”), from Frankish *minsto, *minnisto, superlative of *min, *minn (“small, less”), from Proto-Germanic *minniz (“less”); both from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small, little”). Cognate with Old Saxon minsōn (“to make less, make smaller”), Old Dutch minson (“to make smaller”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌶𐌽𐌰𐌽 (minznan, “to become less, diminish”), Swedish minska (“to reduce, lessen”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (mins, “slender, slight”). More at min.

Synonyms

abate, bring down, cut, decrease, decrement, diminish, extenuate, foreshorten, lessen, lower, moderate, palliate, reduce, soften, weaken

Scrabble Score: 9

mince is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
mince is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
mince is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 12

mince is a valid Words With Friends word