mink 
on the back and tail ; the chin, and usually some irregular 
patches on the throat, breast, or belly, are white. It is 15 
tu 18 inches long, the tail 6 or 8 inches more. It is found 
everywhere in North America in suitable places; its fur 
American Mink (Putorfus (Lttt 
3778 
minnis (miii'is), H. [Cf. minnow.] The stickle- 
back. [Local, Eng.] 
minnow (min'6), . [Formerly also Minnie, 
miiioe, tnenow, etc.; also dial, minny, minnie 
(cf. equiv. dial, minim, minnan, meiinam, men- 
nom, appar. conformed to L. minimus, least: 
see minim) ; < ME. menow, a minnow, appar. 
< AS. "mine, myne (pi. mynas), a minnow 
(glossed by ML. mena) ; possibly from the root 
of mm 2 , less, with ME. term, -ow due to con- 
fusion with some other word, perhaps OF. 
menu, small; cf. ME. menuse, small fish, < OF. 
menuise (ML. menusia), small fish collectively, 
< L. minutus, small: Beemfnuse^."j 1. The small- 
est of the British cyprinoid fishes, Phoxinus 
is valuable, and the animal is systematically trapped, es- 
pecially in British America. Like its relatives, the mink 
exhales a strong musky odor, and is destructive to poultry. 
It has been tamed, and bred in minkeries, like the ferret. 
The little black or mountain mink, described by Audubon 
and Bachman as a distinct species, P. nigrescens, is a small 
dark variety. The corresponding animal in Europe is P. 
httreola, commonly called norz or norz, and by its Swedish 
name mtink (sometimes mank) the designation Euro- 
pean mink being a late book-name. It is much like the 
American mink, but its average size is smaller, and it usu- 
ally has the upper lip as well as the chin white, and pre- 
sents certain dental peculiarities. The Siberian mink, 
lately so called, is the kulon, P. sibiricus, a quite differ- 
ent species. Also called vison. 
2. 
ame as king fish (a). 
minkery (ming'ker-i), n. ; pi. minkeries (-iz). [< 
mink + -en/.] An establishment where minks 
are bred and trained for ratting, like the ferret. 
Mr. Eesseque's minkery consisted of twelve stalls, each 
twelve feet square, of stale soil, and surrounded with a 
fence, and some special precautions to prevent the escape 
of the animals. 
Corns, Fur- Bearing Animals (ed. 1877), p. 182. 
min.net, n. and v. See min a . 
minne-drinking (min'e-dring'king), w. [< G. 
minne, love, + E. drinking, verbal n. of drink, v.~\ 
Originally, a heathen practice among the Teu- 
tonic nations at grand sacrifices and banquets, 
in honor of the gods or in memory of the ab- 
sent or deceased. This custom was sanctioned by 
the church, the saints being substituted for the gods, and 
was especially consecrated to St. John the Evangelist and 
to St. Gertrude. Traces of it are still found in certain 
localities of Germany. 
Minne-drinking, even as a religious rite, apparently ex- 
ists to this day in some parts of Germany. At Otbergen, 
a village of HUdesheim, on Dec. 27 every year a chalice of 
wine is hallowed by the priest, and handed to the congre- 
gation in the church to drink as Johannis segen (bless- 
ing). Grimm, Teut. Mythol. (trans.), I. 62. 
minnekint, An obsolete form of minikin. 
minnelied (min'e-let), n. [G., < minne, love, 
+ lied, song.] A love-song. 
The first lyrical writer of Holland was John I., duke of 
Brabant, who practised the minnelied with success. 
Encyc. Brit., XII. 90. 
minnepoetry (min'e-po"et-ri), n. The poetry 
of the minnesingers. 
The classical representative of Minnepoetry, Walther von 
der Vogelweide. Amer. Jour. Philol., VIII. 454. 
minnesinger (min'e-sing-er), . [G., < minne, 
love, + singer, a singer.] One of a class of 
German lyric poets and singers of the twelfth 
and thirteenth centuries, so called because love 
was the chief theme of their poems. They were 
chiefly or exclusively men of noble descent knights, no- 
bles, princes, and even emperors. They sang their pieces 
to their own accompaniment on the viol, and often en- 
gaged in poetical contests for the gratification of princes 
and ladies of the court. Among the chief seats of the min- 
nesingers were Swabia and Austria, and the leading dialect 
used was the Swabian. The minnesingers were succeeded 
by the mastersingers. See master/linger. 
Minnesotan (min-e-so'tan), n. [< Minnesota 
(see def.) + -an.] A native or an inhabitant 
of Minnesota, a northwestern State of the 
United States, north of Iowa. 
minuet (min'et), . See minute^. 
minnie 1 (min'i), n. A dialectal form of minnow. 
minnie 2 (min'i), . [Dim. of !*.] A child- 
ish word for mother. [Scotch.] 
Bad luck on the penny that tempted my minnie 
To sell her poor Jenny for siller an' Ian ! 
Burns, What Can a Young Lassie. 
minnikint, minnikent, n. and a. Obsolete 
forms of minikin. 
minning (min'ing), n. [< ME. minnyng; verbal 
n. of j3.] Reminding. 
minning-dayt (min'ing-da), . [ME. miitityiig- 
''//.] The anniversary of a death, on which 
the deceased was had in special remembrance, 
and special offices were said for his soul. See 
a year's mind, under 
Common English Minnow {Phoxinus lirvis). 
aphya or lenvis. Artificial minnows are used by anglers 
for trolling, spinning, or casting, and are made of metal, 
glass, and rubber, gilded, silvered, or painted attractively. 
Hear you this Triton of the minnows? 
Shak., Cor., iii. 1. 89. 
2. In the United States, one of many different 
fishes of small size, (a) Any cyprinoid of the genus 
Phoxinus, of which there are several speciesjfrom H to 
3 inches long, in the Mississippi basin and westward, as 
P. neogaius, P. flammeus, P. phfegethontis. This is the cor- 
rect use of minnow, though in popular speech it extends 
to various other little cyprinoids, also loosely called 
roach, dace, shiner, etc. Among these may be mentioned 
the red minnows of the genus Chrosomus, as C. erythrogas- 
ter, one of the prettiest of all, 2 or 3 inches long ; the 
silvery minnow, Hybognathus nuehalis, and others of this 
genus ; the black-headed minnow or fathead, Pimephales 
promelas; the blunt-nosed minnow, Hyborhynchus no- 
tatus; the Texan hardmouth minnow, Cochlognathus or- 
natus; the bull-headed and straw-colored minnows, Cliola 
taurocephalus and C. straminea; the spotted-tail, C. stig- 
maturus, and more than 60 other kinds of Cliola; about 
50 shiners of the genus MinnUus; various species of the 
genera Jthinichthys, Ceratichthys, Apocope, Couesius, etc. 
These abound in fresh waters of the United States, and 
minnow is the usual name of all those which have not 
more particular designations. (6) One of numerous small 
cyprinodont fishes, otherwise known as kulifishes and 
mummychogs, and more fully called top-minnows, as Zygo- 
nectes notatus and many others of this genus. The most 
abundant of these is Fundulug heteroclitus, found in brack- 
ish waters from Maine to Mexico, and sometimes speci- 
fied as salt-water minnow. F. diaphanus is the spring 
minnow, (c) Any American member of the family Um- 
bridte and genus Umbra or Melanura, as U. or M. limi, 
more fully called mud-minnow, 4 inches long, found from 
New England to Minnesota and South Carolina, often in 
mere mud-holes which would hardly be expected to lodge 
any fish. It is closely related to U. crameri of Austria, 
(d) One of various small viviparous perches or embioto- 
coid fishes of California, chiefly of salt water, as the spa- 
rada, Micromelrm or Cymatogaster aggregatus. (e) One of 
several small suckers or catostomoid fishes : a loose use. 
minnow-harness (min'o-har' ! 'ne8), . An arti- 
ficial bait used for trolling to which a minnow 
can be attached. 
minny (min'i), . A provincial form of minnow. 
mino 1 (me'no), n. [Jap.] A thatch-like rain- 
coat or cape made of hempen fibers, long grass, 
rushes, or the like laid close together, and bound 
All the day and night after the Buriall they vse to have 
excessive ringinge forye dead, as also at the twel-monthes 
day after, which they call a 
Chetham Mvsc., V. xv. 
(N. and Q., 7th ser., III. 448.) 
in place at the top by plaiting or by some simi- 
lar means: used in Japan by coolies, farm- 
laborers, etc. 
minorate 
mino 2 (mi'no), H. A variant of miutfi. 
minor (ml'nor), a. and . [< ME. "minour, mc- 
n/tiir, < OF. mittor, F. mineur = Sp. Pg. menor 
= It. minors, < L. minor (iieut. minus), less, corn- 
par, (with superl. minimus, least: see minim, 
minimum, etc.) associated with adj. purons, 
small ; = AS. min = OS. minniro, etc., less: see 
2 .] I. a. 1. Smaller (than the other); less; 
lesser: applied definitively to one of two units 
or parts, and opposed to major or greater: as, 
the minor axis of an ellipse ; the minor premise 
of a syllogism ; the minor part of an estate. 
They altered this custom from cases of high concernment 
to the most trivial debates, the minor part ordinarily en- 
tering their protest. Clarendon, Great Kebellion. 
2. Smaller than others ; of inferior rank or de- 
gree; lower; hence, small; inconsiderable; not 
capital, serious, or weighty : as, the minor offi- 
cers of government ; a minor canon ; the minor 
points of an argument ; minor faults or consid- 
erations. 
Now frere menour, now jacobyn. 
Rom. of the Rose, L 6338. 
Neither in the name of multitude do I only include the 
base and minor sort of people. 
Sir T. Browne, Keligio Medici, a 1. 
Inconsistency with respect to questions of minor impor- 
tance is not likely to be regarded as dishonourable. 
Macaulay, Sir W. Temple. 
3. Under age. [Rare.] 
At which time . . . the king was minor. 
Bacon, -Hist. Hen. VII., p. 145. 
4. In music: (a) Of intervals, less; shorter; 
smaller (as compared with major intervals). 
The word is more often applied to seconds, thirds, sixths, 
sevenths, ninths, etc., designating an interval equal to the 
corresponding major interval less one half-step. It has 
also been applied of late to fourths, fifths, and eighths, and 
is then equivalent to the older term diminished. Finally, 
it is used to designate the smaller of two intervals that dif- 
fer by a minute quantity, as a minor tone (10 : 9), which 
is a comma less than a major tone : opposed to major. 
See interval, 5. (ft) Of tonalities and scales, char- 
acterized by a minor third and also usually by 
a minor sixth, and often a minor seventh: op- 
posed to major. See key, tonality, scale, (c) 
Of triads and chords generally, characterized 
by a minor third between the lowest and the 
next to the lowest tones : opposed to major. See 
triad, and chord, 4. (d) Of modes, characterized 
by the use of a minor tonality and of minor ca- 
dences : as, the piece is written throughout in 
the minor mode: opposed to major. See major, 4. 
Bob minor. Seefwoi, 7. Minor abstraction. Seeab- 
straction. Minor axis. Same as conjugate axis (which 
see, under axisi). Minor canon, determinant, ex- 
communication. See the nouns. Minor orders (ec- 
cles.). Seewder. Minor premise, that premise which 
contains the minor term. This is the usual definition, but 
there has been much dispute on the subject. See major, 5. 
Minor prophets, a name given collectively to twelve 
prophetic Old Testament books, from Hosea to Malachi, 
inclusive, and their authors. See prophet. Minor term, 
in logic, the subject of the conclusion of a categorical syl- 
logism. 
II. . 1. A person of either sex who is under 
age; one who is of less than the legal age for 
the performance of certain acts ; one under the 
authority of parents or guardians, because of not 
having reached the age at which the law permits 
one to make contracts and manage one's own 
Eroperty; an infant in the legal sense. In Scots 
iw, minor, when used in contradistinction to pupil, signi- 
fies a person above the age of pupilarity (twelve in females 
and fourteen in males) and underthat of majority, which in 
both sexes is twenty-one years. The technical term in Eng- 
lish and United States law for one under the age of legal 
capacity (twenty -one years) is infant, but minor is used in 
the same sense in general literature. Compare age, n., 3. 
Long as the year's dull circle seems to run, 
When the brisk minor pants for twenty-one. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, I. i. 38. 
King Henry, although old enough at seven to be crowned, 
was still a minor. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 173. 
2. In logic, the minor term, or the minor prem- 
ise. See I. 3. In music, the minor mode or a 
minor tonality or minor chord taken absolutely. 
In all your music our pathetic minor 
Your ears shall cross. 
Mrs. Browning, Drama of Exile. 
4. [pop.] A Franciscan friar; a Minorite: so 
called from a name of the Franciscan order, 
Fratres Minores, or Lesser Brethren. Also called 
Prior Minor. KtiioT of a determinant. See deter- 
rmnant.'Roay minor a species of moth. See Minna. 
minoratet (mi'no-rat), v. t. [< LL. minor<itn.i, 
pp. of minorare (> It. minorare = Sp. Pg. mi- 
nornr, make less), diminish, < L. minor, less: 
see minor.'} To diminish. 
Which it [sense] doth not only by the advantageous as- 
sistance of a tube, but by less industrious experiments, 
showing in what degrees distance minorates the object. 
GlanriUe, Vanity of Dogmatizing, viii. 
