Etymology

mitten

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Today it means: A type of glove or garment that covers a hand with a separate sheath for the thumb, but not for other fingers, which are either enclosed in a single section or left uncovered. Full definition →

Middle English myteyne ← Old French mitaine
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mitten · noun, verb1

  1. Old French · derived frommitaine
  2. Middle English · inherited frommyteyne
  3. English todaymitten

From Middle English myteyne, from Old French mitaine (Modern French mitaine), of unclear origin; possibly from mite, miste (“playful name for cat”) + -aine. Alternatively, mitaine may be from Old High German mittamo (“half”), superlative of mitti (“midpoint”), from Proto-Germanic *midjô, *midją (“middle, center”), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, center”). Compare Catalan mitana, Medieval Latin mitta, mitana, and Occitan mitana.

Mitten · proper noun2

From the mitten-like shape.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.