mince

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*mey-“small, little”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*minniz“less”
3. Frankish · derived from*minsto
4. Old French · derived frommincer
5. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*minnisōną“to make less”
6. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*minnisōn
7. Old English · inherited fromminsian
8. Middle English · inherited frommincen
9. English todaymince

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.

Words from the same roots