mite1
- any of numerous small to microscopic arachnids of the subclass Acari, including species that are parasitic on animals and plants or that feed on decaying matter and stored foods.
Origin of mite1
mite2
- a contribution that is small but is all that a person can afford.
- a very small sum of money.
- a coin of very small value.
- a very small object.
- a very small creature.
- to a small extent; somewhat (often preceded by a): a mite selfish.
Origin of mite2
Related Words
speck, insect, bug, particle, parasite, mote, minim, molecule, atom, bit, tick, smidgen, iota, minute, acarid, nitExamples from the Web for mite
Contemporary Examples
Not the greatest tragedy in the world, perhaps, but a mite sad.
OPEC meets in Vienna on Friday, a meeting that will, according to the Wall Street Journal, be a mite testy.
Predicting Palestinian genocide of Jews under a one-state solution is a mite farfetched, I would submit.
This made him look a mite desperate and distinctly unpresidential.
Well, maybe a household name among the Twitterati, we who take ourselves a mite too seriously, but never mind.
Historical Examples
"It's not the least mite I'm blaming you, honey," said Katy.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
An' you needn't, dear; for nothin' between us is changed a mite.
Tiverton TalesAlice Brown
I'll take one of 'em, if you say so, or I'll own it don't make a mite o' difference whose they be.
Tiverton TalesAlice Brown
"Don't you worry one mite about me," she replied, in an even voice.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
I shouldn't wonder a mite if you'd got some o' them stomach troubles along with your cold.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
mite1
- any of numerous small free-living or parasitic arachnids of the order Acarina (or Acari) that can occur in terrestrial or aquatic habitatsSee also gall mite, harvest mite, itch mite, spider mite Compare tick 2 Related adjective: acaroid
Word Origin
mite2
- a very small particle, creature, or object
- a very small contribution or sum of moneySee also widow's mite
- a former Flemish coin of small value
- a mite informal somewhathe's a mite foolish
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for mite
n.1
"tiny animal, minute arachnid," Old English mite, from Proto-Germanic *miton (cf. Middle Dutch mite, Dutch mijt, Old High German miza, Danish mide) originally meaning perhaps "the cutter," in reference to its bite, from Proto-Germanic *mait- (cf. Gothic maitan, Old High German meizen "to cut"), from PIE root *mai- "to cut" (see maim). Or else its original sense is "something small," and it is from PIE *mei- "small," in reference to size (see minus).
n.2
"little bit," mid-14c., from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German mite "tiny animal," from Proto-Germanic *miton-, from PIE *mei- "small" (see minus), and thus probably identical with mite (n.1). Also the name of a medieval Flemish copper coin of very small value, proverbial in English for "a very small unit of money," hence used since Wyclif to translate Latin minutum from Vulgate in Mark xii:43, itself a translation of Greek lepton. French mite (14c.) is a loan-word from Dutch.
mite
(mīt)- Any of numerous small or minute arachnids of the order Acarina, certain species of which are parasitic on animals and plants, infest stored food products, and in some cases transmit disease.
mite
- Any of various very small arachnids of the subclass Acari that often live as parasites on other animals or plants. Like ticks and unlike spiders, mites have no division between the cephalothorax and abdomen.