minnow

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a very small freshwater fish, especially the common Eurasian minnow Phoxinus phoxinus

   The naturalist counted male and female minnows in the gravel-bottomed stream.

2. 2
   noun

   a person, organization, or country regarded as small and unimportant

   The regional club was a minnow compared with its wealthy opponent.

From Middle English menew or menowe, from an Old English form related to Germanic words for a small fish; it may have been reinforced by Old French menu, 'small.' The figurative sense compares an insignificant person or organization with a tiny fish.

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