mint
/mɪnt/ noun, verb, adjective
Forms mints minting minted
- noun A building or institution where money (originally, only coins) is produced under government licence.
- noun (informal) A vast sum of money; (by extension) a large amount of something. “That house is worth a mint.”
- noun (figuratively) Any place regarded as a source of unlimited supply; the supply itself.
- verb (transitive) To reproduce (coins), usually en masse, under licence.
- verb To invent; to forge; to fabricate; to fashion.
- verb (transitive, cryptocurrencies) To create a crypto token.
- adjective (numismatics) In near-perfect condition; uncirculated.
- adjective (philately) Unused with original gum; as issued originally.
- adjective (Northern England, especially Manchester, Geordie, slang) Very good, excellent.
- adjective (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Attractive; beautiful; handsome.
- noun Any plant in the genus Mentha in the family Lamiaceae, typically aromatic with square stems.
- noun The flavoring of the plant, either a sweet, a jelly or sauce.
- noun A green color, like that of mint.
- noun A mint-flavored candy, often eaten to sweeten the smell of the breath.
- adjective Of a green color, like that of the mint plant.
- verb (intransitive, provincial, Northern England, Scotland) To try, attempt; take aim.
- verb (transitive, provincial, Northern England, Scotland) To try, attempt, endeavor; to take aim at; to try to hit; to purpose.
- verb (intransitive, chiefly Scotland) To hint; suggest; insinuate.
- noun (provincial, Northern England, Scotland) An intent, a purpose; an attempt, a try; an effort, an endeavor.
Synonyms
bundle pile small fortune mentha batch deal flock good deal great deal hatful heap lot mass mess mickle mountain muckle passel peck plenty pot quite a little raft sight slew spate stack tidy sum wad mint candy
Etymology
From Middle English mynt, münet (“money, coin”), from Old English mynet (“coin”), from late Proto-West Germanic *munit, from Latin monēta (“place for making coins, coined money”), from the temple of Juno Moneta (named for Monēta mother of the Muses), where coins were made. Doublet of money and manat. The verb is from the noun; Old English mynetian (“to mint”) is a parallel formation.
From Middle English mynte, from Old English minte (“mint plant”), from Proto-West Germanic *mintā (“mint”), from Latin menta, probably from a lost Mediterranean language either through Ancient Greek μίνθη (mínthē), μίνθα (míntha) or directly. Akin to Old Norse minta (“mint”). Doublet of mentha.
From Middle English minten, from Old English myntan (“to mean, intend, purpose, determine, resolve”), from Proto-West Germanic *muntijan (“to think, consider”), from Proto-Indo-European *men-, *mnā- (“to think”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian mintsje, muntsje (“to aim, target”), Dutch munten (“to aim at, target”), German Low German münten (“to aim at”), German münzen (“to aim at”), Dutch monter (“cheerful, gladsome, spry”), Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌽𐍃 (muns, “thought, opinion”), Old English munan (“to be mindful of, consider, intend”). More at mind.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The name of several aromatic labiate plants, mostly of the genus Mentha, yielding odoriferous essential oils by distillation.
- noun A place where money is coined by public authority.
- noun Hence: Any place regarded as a source of unlimited supply; the supply itself.
- verb To make by stamping, as money; to coin; to make and stamp into money.
Etymology [AS. mynet money, coin, fr. L. moneta the mint, coined money, fr. Moneta, a surname of Juno, in whose at Rome money was coined; akin to monere to warn, admonish, AS. manian, and to E. mind. See Mind, and cf. Money, Monition.]
Etymology [AS. mynetian.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mint”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details