minnow

[min-oh]

noun, plural (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) min·nows, (especially collectively, Rare) min·now for 1–3.

a small, European cyprinoid fish, Phoxinus phoxinus.

any other fish of the family Cyprinidae, including the carps, goldfishes, and daces.

any of various unrelated, small fishes.

a person or thing that is comparatively small or insignificant.

Origin of minnow

1325–75; Middle English minwe, Old English *mynwe (feminine) for myne (masculine); cognate with Old High German munewa kind of fish

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for minnow

Contemporary Examples of minnow

"They are using a whale to catch a minnow," said defense attorney Charles Swift.
The Next U.S-Pakistan Headache
ProPublica
May 22, 2011
“They are using a whale to catch a minnow,” said defense attorney Charles Swift.
The Next U.S-Pakistan Headache
ProPublica
May 22, 2011

Historical Examples of minnow

I always treat a minnow as Izaak Walton spoke of a frog, "as if I loved him."
Black Bass
Charles Barker Bradford
The Editor says that one was a minnow and that the rest were sticklebacks.
The Book of the Damned
Charles Fort
The little loop was still on the fragment of minnow tackle which fastened it to the cast.
Angling Sketches
Andrew Lang
The Minnow was meant for short heavy hops to planets or asteroids.
Accidental Death
Peter Baily
Some of the fishes are as common as the schoolboy's familiar friend, the minnow.
Little Folks (Septemeber 1884)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for minnow

minnow

noun plural -nows or -now

a small slender European freshwater cyprinid fish, Phoxinus phoxinus

any other small cyprinid

angling a spinning lure imitating a minnow

a small or insignificant person

Word Origin for minnow

C15: related to Old English myne minnow; compare Old High German muniwa fish

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for minnow

small freshwater fish, early 15c., probably related to Old English myne, earlier *mynwe, a name for some kind of fish, from Proto-Germanic *muniwon (cf. Middle Low German möne, Dutch meun, Old High German muniwa, German Münne), of unknown origin, perhaps from PIE *men- "small." Perhaps influenced in Middle English by French menu "small."