minimus 
Get you gone, you dwarf, 
You minima*, of hind'ring knot-grass made. 
Shale., \L N. D.,iii. 2. 329. 
mining (mi'ning), n. [Verbal n. of mine 2 , >.] 
The business or work of a miner: also used 
attributively : as, a mining engineer ; mining 
tools Hydraulic mining. See hydraulic. Mining 
claim, (a) The claim of a discoverer, or of one who has 
taken possession of a mine, or unoccupied ground sup- 
posed to contain a precious metal or mineral, to the ex- 
clusive right to work it, or to a right of preemption ; hence, 
generally, a piece of land supposed to contain a precious 
metal. (b) The area of mining-ground held under federal 
or State law by one claimant or association by virtue of 
one location and entry. In consequence of the peculiar 
right to follow a vein of ore beyond the line of the boundary 
upon the surface, it may be more correctly, though still 
somewhat vaguely, denned as a tract of mineral land, the 
owner of which is entitled to the surface rights and all 
subjacent minerals, together with certain lateral rights of 
mining beyond the boundary, and subject to the similar 
lateral rights of adjoining owners. When two veins con- 
nect or cross, priority of title generally gives a preference. 
Coal-land claims may be entered for not exceeding 160 
acres to each individual, or 320 acres to each association. 
As to placer-mining claims, see placer-claim, under placer. 
Mining district, engineering, jurisprudence, part- 
nership, etc. See district, etc. 
mining (mi'ning), p. a. [Ppr. of mine 2 , v.] 1. 
Of burrowing habits: as, the rabbit is a mining 
animal. Henee 2. Insidious; working by un- 
derhand means. 
mining-camp (mi'ning-kamp), n. A tempo- 
rary settlement for mining purposes. 
minion 1 (min'yon), n. and a. [Early mod. E. 
also mineon, minyon, mynion, mignion, mignon 
(= It. mignone),< OF. and F. mignon, a favorite, 
darling; as adj., favorite, pleasing, dainty; < 
OHG. minna, MHG. minne, memory, love: see 
min 3 , mind 1 . Of. mignonette.'] I. n. If. One 
who or that which is beloved; a favorite; a 
darling. 
They must in fine condemned be to dwell 
In thickes vnseene, in mewea for minyons made. 
Oasmiyne, Philoraene (ed. Arber), p. 118. 
And Duncan's horses, . . . 
Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race. 
Shak., Macbeth, ii. 4. 15. 
Man 's his own Minion; Man 's his sacred Type ; 
And for Man's sake he loues his Workmanship. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 7. 
2. An intriguing favorite; one who gains grace 
by vile or unworthy means ; a servile creature. 
Minion, your dear lies dead. Shak. , Othello, v. 1. 33. 
It was my chance one day to play at chess 
For some few crowns with a minion of this king's, 
A mean poor man that only serv'd his pleasures. 
Fletcher, Double Marriage, ii. 1. 
Hence 3. A pert or saucy girl or woman; one 
who is too bold or forward ; a minx. 
Fast by her side did sitt the bold Sansloy, 
Fitt mate for such a mincing mineon. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. ii. 37. 
You'll cry for this, minion, if I beat the door down. 
Shak.,C. of E..1U. 1. 59. 
4. A small printing-type, about 10 lines to the 
inch, intermediate between the sizes nonpareil 
(smaller) and brevier (larger). 
This line is printed in minion. 
5f. A type of cannon in use in the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries. 
A Minion of brasse on the summer decke, with two or 
three other pieces. Uakluyt's Voyages, II. 107. 
Then let us bring our light artillery, 
Minions, falc'nets, and sakers, to the trench. 
Marlowe, Tamburlaine, II., iii. 3. 
It was thought fitter for our condition to build a vessel 
forty feet in length, and twenty-one in breadth, to be min- 
ion proof, and the upper deck musket proof. 
Winthrop, Hist New England, I. 148. 
II. t a. Fine; trim; dainty; delicate. 
On his minion harpe full well playe he can. 
Pleasaunte Pathwaie, sig. C. iiij. (Richardson.) 
Yonder is a minion swaine. 
Ballad of Kiny Arthur (Child's Ballads, I. 234). 
O mightye Muse, 
The mignionst mayde of mounte Parnasse, 
Ever verdurde wtii flowre and grasse, 
Of sundrye hews. Puttenham, Fartheniades, xi. 
minion 2 !, . An obsolete variant of minium. 
Let them paint their faces with minion and cernsse, they 
are but fewels of lust, and signs of a corrupt soul. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 473. 
minion 3 (min'yon), n. [Origin not ascertain- 
ed.] The sittings of ironstone after calcination 
at the iron-furnaces. Weale. 
minionette (min-yo-nef), a. and n. [< minion^ 
-ette. Cf. mignonette.'] I. a. Diminutive; 
delicate; dainty. 
His minionette face. WalpoU, Letters, I. 205. (Dauies.) 
II. n. In printing, a bastard body of type, 
measuring about 11 J lines to the inch, small- 
er than minion and larger than nonpareil, in- 
3776 
tended to be the equivalent of the French size 
' body six " of the Didot system : used by type- 
founders in the United States chiefly for com- 
bination borders planned on the Didot system. 
minioningt (min'you-ing), n. [< minion 1 + 
-ing 1 .] Kind or affectionate treatment. 
With sweete behaviour and soft minioning. 
Marston and Webster, Malcontent, iv. 3. 
minionizet (min'yon-iz), v. t. [< minion 1 + 
-ize.] To treat with partiality; be especially 
kind to; favor. 
Whom of base groomes His grace did mimonae. 
Dames, Holy Roode, p. 26. (Dames.) 
minion-like (min'yon-lik), adv. Like a minion ; 
finely; daintily. 
Hitherto will our sparkful youth laugh at their great- 
grandfather's English, who had more care to do well than 
to speak minion-like. Camden, Remains, Languages. 
minionlyt (min'yon-li), adv. [Early mod. E. 
also mynionly; < minion 1 + -ly 2 . ] Same as min- 
ion-like. 
He wolde kepe goodly horses, and live mynionly and ele- 
gantly. Taverner's Adagies (1562). (Hares.) 
minionship (min'yon-ship), n. [< minion 1 + 
-ship.'] TLe state of being a minion. 
The Favourite Luines strengtheneth himself more and 
more in his Minionship. Howell, Letters, I. i. 17. 
minious(min'i-us), a. [< minium + -ous.] Of 
the color of minium. 
They hold the sea receiveth a red and minious tincture 
from springs, wells, and currents, that fall into it. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., vi. 9. 
minish (min'ish), r. [< ME. minyshen, mini- 
schen, minushen, menushen, menusen, < OF. menu- 
sier, menuisier, menuiser, F. menuiser= Pr. menu- 
gar = It. minuzzare, < ML. *minutiare, make 
small, diminish, < L. minutia, smallness: see 
minutia. Cf. aminish, diminish.] I. trans. To 
lessen ; diminish ; render fewer or smaller. 
The faithful are minished from among the children of 
men. Book of Common Prayer, Psalter, xii. 1. 
The living of poor men [was] thereby minished and taken 
away. Latimer, 1st Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1549. 
Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily 
task. Ex. v. 19. 
II. in trans. To become less; grow fewer or 
smaller. 
As the Waspe souketh home fro the bee, 
So minisheth our commoditee. 
Uakluyt's Voyages, I. 194. 
The very considerableminisAin^ of the more experienced 
debaters ... on the Liberal side. Saturday Rev., LXI. 67. 
[Obsolete or archaic in both uses.] 
minishmentt (min'ish-ment), n. [< minish + 
-went.] The act of diminishing ; diminution. 
By him reputed as a ininishment, and a withdrawing of 
the honor dewe to himself. Sir T. More, Works, p. 145. 
ministellot, n. [It. *ministello, dim. of ministro, 
a minister: see minister.] A petty minister. 
What pitiful ministellos, what pigmy Presbyters ! 
Bp. Oauden, Tears of the Church, p. 194. (Dames.) 
minister (min'is-ter), n. [< ME. ministre, miii- 
ystn:, mynester (= D. G. Dan. Sw. minister), < 
OF. ministre, F. ministre = Sp. Pg. It. ministro, 
< L. minister (ministr-), an attendant, servant, 
assistant, a priest's assistant or other under- 
official, eccl. (LL. and ML.) a priest, etc. ; with 
suffix -ter, < minor (for *minos-, cf. neut. minus), 
less: see minor. Cf. magister, a chief, leader, 
with the same suffix, < major, magis, greater, 
more: see magister, master 1 . Hence ministe- 
rium, ministry, mister 2 , mistery, mystery 2 , min- 
strel, etc.] 1. One who performs service for 
another, or executes another's will; one who is 
subservient ; an agent, servant, or attendant. 
Whan the Kyng hathe don, thanne don the Lordes ; and 
aftrehem here Mynystres&aA other men, zif thei may have 
ony remenant. MandeoUle, Travels, p. 170. 
O war ! thou son of hell. 
Whom angry heavens do make their minister. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., v. 2.34. 
The word minister, in the original diaoi-ot, signifieth 
one that voluntarily doth the business of another man ; 
and dilf ereth from a servant only in this, that servants are 
obliged by their condition to what is commanded them ; 
whereas ministers are obliged only by their undertaking, 
and bound therefore to no more than they have under- 
taken. Hobbes, Leviathan, iii. 42. 
I have grounds for believing that Henry Vin. was the 
master, and in no sense the 'minister, of his people. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 289. 
2. One who acts as a medium or dispenser ; an 
administrator or promoter: as, a minister of 
God's will, of justice, etc. ; a minister of peace 
or charity. 
Is therefore Christ the minister of sin ? God forbid. 
Gal. ii. 17. 
Angels and ministers of grace defend ns ! 
Shale., Hamlet, I. 4. 39. 
minister 
All thoughts, all passions, all delights, 
Whatever stirs this mortal frame, 
All are but ministers of Love, 
And feed his sacred flame. Coleridge, Love. 
3. In politics: (a) One of the persons appointed 
by the sovereign or chief magistrate of a coun- 
try as the responsible heads of the different de- 
partments of the government; a minister of 
state : as, the minister of foreign affairs, of the 
interior, of finance, of war, of justice, etc. 
These officers constitute the ministry or executive depart- 
ment of the government; at their head is the prime (first) 
minister, or premier, the immediate deputy or represen- 
tative of the sovereign or chief magistrate ; he and other 
ministers, selected by him, are called collectively, as his 
coordinate advisers in matters of policy, the cabinet. 
Minister is used in most European countries as the official 
title of all heads of departments, but in Great Britain only 
in a generic sense (as, a minister of the crown), the individ- 
ual ministers being officially designated the secretary of 
state for foreign affairs, for war, for the colonies, etc., or 
by other titles, as chancellor of the exchequer (minister of 
finance). In the government of the United States the title 
minister is not used at all, and there is no ministry; the 
corresponding officers, differing from the preceding both 
in mode of appointment and degree of power and respon- 
sibility, are called secretaries (of state, of the interior, of 
the treasury, of war, of the navy, of agriculture), post- 
master-general, and attorney-general. See cabinet, 4. 
Very different training was necessary to form a great 
minister for foreign affairs. Macavlay, Hist. Eng., xL 
(6) A diplomatic representative of a country 
abroad ; a person accredited by the executive 
authority of one country to that of another as 
its agent for. communication and the transac- 
tion of business between the two governments ; 
specifically, the political representative of a 
state in another state, in contradistinction to 
an ambassador, who holds a nominally higher 
rank as in general the personal representative 
of the sovereign or chief of the state at the court 
of another sovereign. The United States heretofore 
have sent and received only ministers in this specific sense, 
called in full either envoys extraordinary and ministers 
plenipotentiary or ministers resident. 
We [the United States] have no ambassadors, we have 
comparatively few envoys extraordinary and ministers 
plenipotentiary, but seem to prefer ministers resident. 
E. Schuyler, Arner. Diplomacy, p. 112. 
4. Eccles., in the New Testament, a servant of 
God, God's word, Christ, or the church ; an of- 
ficer of the church; an attendant or assistant 
(Acts xiii. 5) : translating Sianwos (whence dea- 
con), but sometimes fairovpy6f (liturge) or VKTI- 
ptrrK (an assistant) ; hence, any member of the 
ministry. The word is used of civil authorities in Horn, 
xiii. 4-6. In the ancient church minister usually meant 
a deacon or one in minor orders, the Latin word minister 
being the equivalent of the Greek iianofot. See ministry. 
These Orders of Ministers in Christ's Church, Bishops, 
Priests, and Deacons. 
Book of Common Prayer, Pref. to Ordinal. 
Mr. Williams, the teacher at Salem, was again convent- 
ed, and all the ministers in the bay being desired to be 
present, he was charged with the said two letters. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 204. 
5f. An officer of justice. 
" I crye out on the ministres," quod he, 
"That sholden kepe and reule this cite." 
Chaucer, Nun's Priest's Tale, 1. 223. 
6. The catfish, Amiurus nebulosus : apparently 
so called from the silvery white throat, contrast- 
ing with the dark back, and likened to a clergy- 
man's white necktie. [Local, U. S.] 
" Horned pout," "bull-heads," or ministers, probably the 
hardiest of all the fresh-water flsh, thrive in Northern and 
Eastern States. Tribune Book of Sports, p. 155. 
Ministers of the sick, a Roman Catholic order of 
Eriests and laymen, founded by Camillus of Lellis, to serve 
ospital patients. It was made a religious order by 
Gregory XIV. (end of the sixteenth century). Minister's 
rental, in Scots law, the rental of the parish lodired by the 
minister in a process of augmentation and locality. = Syn. 
4. Minister, Pastor, Clergyman, Divine, Parson, Pnest. 
Minister views a man as serving a church ; pastor views 
him as caring for a church as a shepherd cares for sheep; 
derijyman views him as belonging to a certain class ; dirine 
is properly one learned in theology, a theologian ; parson, 
formerly a respectful designation, is now little better than 
a jocular name for a clergyman ; priest regards a man as 
appointed to offer sacrifice. 
minister (min'is-ter), v. [< ME. ministren, < 
OF. ministrer = Sp. Pg. ministrar = It. ntinis- 
trnre, < L. ministrare, attend, wait upon, serve, 
manage, govern, etc., < minister, an attendant, 
servant: see minister, n. Cf. administer.] I. 
trans. 1. To furnish, supply, or afford; give; 
serve: as, to minister consolation. 
And there the Gray Freres of Mounte Syon mynystred 
wyne vnto vs euery day twyse. 
Sir R. Guylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 18. 
I would to God that these few lines, wherein I have 
made relation of that learned mans speeches, may minis- 
ter occasion to some singular scholler to take in hand this 
worthy enterprise. Coryat, Crudities, I. 43 (sig. D). 
Most sweet attendance, with tobacco and pipes of the 
best sort, shall be ministered. 
B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, ill. 1. 
