Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: 5. mei-, mi-neu- 'to lessen, diminish; small, minor'
Semantic Field(s): Small, Little
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Middle English: | deminishen | vb | to diminish | W7 | 
| diminuen | vb | to diminish | W7 | |
| mincen | vb | to mince | W7 | |
| ministre | n | minister | W7 | |
| minor | adj | minor | W7 | |
| minus | prep | minus | W7 | |
| English: | comminute | vb.trans | to pulverize, reduce to minute particles | AHD/W7 | 
| diminish | vb | to make less, cause to appear less | AHD/W7 | |
| meiosis | n | cell division halving number of chromosomes | AHD/W7 | |
| Menshevik | prop.n | lit. minority party (of Russian revolution) | LRC | |
| menu | n | list of dishes to be served at meal | AHD/W7 | |
| mince | vb | to cut/chop into small pieces | AHD/W7 | |
| minestrone | n | rich thick vegetable soup | AHD/W7 | |
| mini | adj | small, miniature | LRC | |
| minim | n | half note | AHD/W7 | |
| minimum | n | least quantity possible/admissible/assignable | AHD/W7 | |
| minister | n | agent, servant | AHD/W7 | |
| ministration | n | act/process of aiding/serving | AHD | |
| ministry | n | ministration | AHD | |
| minor | adj | inferior in size/degree/importance | AHD/W7 | |
| minuend | n | number to be subtracted from | AHD/W7 | |
| minuet | n | slow graceful dance | AHD/W7 | |
| minus | prep | less, diminished by | AHD/W7 | |
| minuscule | n | small ancient/medieval writing style | AHD/W7 | |
| minute | adj | infinitesimal, very small | AHD/W7 | |
| minutia | n | small/minor detail | AHD/W7 | |
| mystery | n | craft, trade | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Dutch: | minder | adj.comp | less, worse | TLL | 
| minst | adj.sup | least | TLL | |
| Old High German: | minniro | adj.comp | smaller | W7 | 
| German: | minder | adj.comp | less, smaller | TLL | 
| mindest | adj.sup | least | TLL | |
| mini | adj | mini | LRC | |
| minimieren | vb | to lessen | LRC | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | minni | adj.comp | less, mini | LRC | 
| Danish: | mindre | adj.comp | less, smaller | TLL | 
| mindst | adj.sup | least | TLL | |
| Swedish: | mindre | adj.comp | less, smaller | TLL | 
| minst | adj.sup | least | TLL | |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | comminuo, comminuere, comminui, comminutus | vb | to break, lessen | W7 | 
| deminuo, deminuere | vb | to diminish | W7 | |
| minimus | adj | small(est) | W7 | |
| minister | n.masc | servant | W7 | |
| ministro, ministrāre | vb | to serve | W7 | |
| minor | adj.comp | smaller, inferior | W7 | |
| minuendus | vb.ger | diminishing | W7 | |
| minuo, minuere | vb | to lessen | W7 | |
| minus | adv | less | LRC | |
| minusculus | adj | rather small | W7 | |
| minutia | n.fem | smallness, trifle, detail | W7 | |
| minutus | adj | small | W7 | |
| Vulgar Latin: | minutio, minutiāre | vb | to make small | W7 | 
| Late Latin: | diminuo, diminuere | vb | to diminish | W7 | 
| minister | n.masc | servant | W7 | |
| ministerium | n.neut | service, occupation | W7 | |
| mysterium | n.neut | service, occupation | W7 | |
| Old French: | menu | adj | small | W7 | 
| menuet | n.masc | minuet (dance) | W7 | |
| ministre | n.masc | servant, one with official charge | W7 | |
| Middle French: | diminuer | vb | to diminish | W7 | 
| mincer | vb | to mince, make small | W7 | |
| French: | menu | adj | small, detailed | W7 | 
| menuet | n.masc | dance, part of sonata | R1/W7 | |
| minuscule | adj | very small | W7 | |
| Italian: | minèstra | n.fem | thick soup | W7 | 
| minestrare | vb | to serve, dish up | W7 | |
| minestrone | n.masc | thick soup with rice/vegetables | CID/W7 | |
| Slavic | ||||
| Old Church Slavonic: | mysliti, myšlǫ, mysliši | vb | to think | LRC | 
| mьnii | adj.comp | less, smaller | LRC | |
| Russian: | men | n | Menshevik | W7 | 
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | meiow | vb | to diminish | W7 | 
| meiōn | adj.comp | less | W7 | |
| meiōsis | n.fem | diminution | W7 | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective | 
| adv | = | adverb(ial) | 
| comp | = | comparative | 
| fem | = | feminine (gender) | 
| ger | = | gerund(ive) | 
| masc | = | masculine (gender) | 
| n | = | noun | 
| neut | = | neuter (gender) | 
| prep | = | preposition | 
| prop | = | proper | 
| sup | = | superlative | 
| trans | = | transitive | 
| vb | = | verb | 
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) | 
| CID | = | Cassell's Italian Dictionary (1958) | 
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin | 
| R1 | = | Josette Rey-Debove and Alain Rey, eds. Le Nouveau Petit Robert (1993) | 
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) | 
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) | 
