Definition of MINNOW

minnow

Meanings

Plural: minnows

Noun

  • very small European freshwater fish common in gravelly streams
  • Any small fish.
  • 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.
  • Any small fish.
  • Chiefly with a qualifying word: any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae; also (chiefly US), other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families.
  • Any small fish.
  • 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).
  • Any small fish.
  • Synonym of stickleback (family Gasterosteidae).
  • Any small fish.
  • A person or thing of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
  • An artificial bait in the form of a small fish.

Adj

  • Very small; tiny.

Verb

  • To fish for minnows (noun sense 1 and subsenses).
  • To fish, especially for trout, using minnows as bait.

Origin / Etymology

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”)

Synonyms

absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, galaxiid, Joe Nobody, little guy, minim, minnow, nebbish, no one, nobody, nonentity, nothing, nothingburger, penk, peon, Phoxinus phoxinus, picayune, pinkeen, pip-squeak, pleb, prole, puny, quidam, rinky-dink, shrimp, small fry, small potatoes, stickleback, wankstain, zero, zilch

Scrabble Score: 11

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

Words With Friends Score: 14

minnow is a valid Words With Friends word