miniature

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Much smaller than the usual size.

   She collects miniature furniture for her doll's house.

2. 2
   noun

   A very small copy or model of something.

   There was a miniature of a sailing ship inside a glass bottle.

3. 3
   noun

   A small, very detailed painting, especially a portrait.

   The museum displayed a delicate miniature of the young queen.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Miniature comes through Italian miniatura from Latin minium, the name of the red pigment used to decorate manuscript initials. Italian miniatura first meant manuscript illumination and then a small portrait, leading to the English noun in the late 16th century; the general adjective meaning “very small” appeared in the early 18th century.

Etymology tree Latin miniumder. Italian minio Proto-Italic *-āzi ▲ Latin -ereinflu. Latin -āre Italian -are Italian miniare Proto-Indo-European *-tew-? Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂? Latin -tūra Italian -tura Italian miniaturabor. English miniature Borrowed from Italian miniatura (“manuscript illumination”), from miniare (“to illuminate”), from Latin miniō (“to colour red”), from minium (“red lead”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary