Minnow definition

mĭnō

Words form:

Frequency:

Any very small fish.

noun

A small freshwater fish of the carp family.

noun

More generally, any small fish.

noun

(soccer) A low-level team, in comparison to their opponents.

noun

(fishing) To fish minnows.

verb

(fishing) To fish (especially trout) using a minnow as bait.

verb

Any of a large group of small freshwater fishes of the family Cyprinidae, widely used as live bait.

noun

Any of various other small, often silver-colored fishes.

noun

Any of various, usually small, freshwater cyprinoid fishes used commonly as bait.

noun

Other Word Forms

Singular:

minnow

Plural:

minnows

Middle English meneu men-⁴ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Middle English menow, from Old English *mynwe, oblique form of *mynu, unattested variant of Old English myne (“minnow, small fish"), from Proto-Germanic *muniwō (“minnow"), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“small"). Cognate with Middle Low German mone, möne (West Frisian meun, Dutch meun), Old High German muniwa, munuwa, munewa (German Münne (“minnow")).

From Wiktionary