mignonette
(ˌmɪnjəˈnɛt)
Also 8 mign(i)onet, minionette, mennuet, minianet, 8–9 mignionette.
[a. F. mignonnette, fem. of † mignonnet, dim. of mignon: see mignon a.]
1. a. A plant (Reseda odorata) cultivated for the fragrance of its blossoms.
When trained to grow with a bushy head it is known as tree-mignonette. wild mignonette, the plant R. luteola.
The ordinary Fr. name for mignonette is réséda; but Littré says that mignonnette is applied to this plant as well as to several others.
| [1752 Miller Gard. Dict. (1759) s.v. Reseda, 6. Reseda foliis integris trilobisque... Bastard-rocket..commonly called sweet Reseda, or Mignonette d'Egypt.] 1798 C. Marshall Garden. xix. 333 Hardy Annuals... Mignonette, (trailing) or sweet-scented reseda. 1799 Sir H. Davy in Beddoes Contrib. Phys. & Med. Knowl. 154 A small plant of Minianet in a state of healthy vegetation. 1817 Bot. Register III. 227 Reseda odorata. β. suffrutescens. Tree-Mignonette. 1820 Trans. Horticult. Soc. III. 178 With Lord Bateman [who sent the seed from France in 1742] the appellation of Mignonette originated;..he gave to it this name of endearment, by which it is not known in France. 1832 Tennyson Miller's Dau. xi, A long green box of mignonette. 1861 E. A. Beaufort Egypt. Sepulchres, etc. II. xix. 116 The ground is strewed with wild mignonnette. |
| fig. 1847 Tennyson Princess Prol. 164 They..miss'd the mignonette of Vivian-place, The little hearth-flower Lilia. |
b. Jamaica mignonette: the name given in the West Indies to the henna plant,
Lawsonia alba or inermis, which is naturalized there.
c. A colour resembling that of the flowers of mignonette; greyish green or greenish white.
| 1885 Daily News 19 Feb. 2/1 The soft tints of greyish green known as ‘mignonette’ are to be in great favour this year. 1899 B. W. Warhurst Colour Dict. 47 Mignonette. Should be delicate light green. |
d. A perfume derived from the flowers of the mignonette.
| 1897 Sears Roebuck Catal. 19/2 Perfumes..Crab Apple..Mignonette..Sweet Pea. 1913 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 177/1 Perfumes..Jasmin Mignionette Opoponax. 1972 Guardian 22 Aug. 9/4 Jacksons have revived these flower perfumes..the shop plan to reintroduce other fragrancies including wallflower, mignonette, and honeysuckle. |
2. A kind of lace: see
quots. 1865, 1900. (More fully
mignonette lace.) Also, a fine kind of net.
| [1699 Le Mercure Galant in Mrs. Palliser Hist. Lace (1865) 31 note, On employe aussi pour les coëffures de la mignonette, et on a tellement perfectionné cette dentelle, que, etc.] 1757 Jeffrey Coll. Dresses ii, A pink lutestring dress covered with a white mignonet. 1762 Lond. Chron. 16–18 Feb. 167/3 The Ranelagh Mob... This is a piece of Gauze, Minionett,..&c., &c. which is clouted about the head. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 13 July, Laces of Mechlin or mignionette. 1865 F. B. Palliser Lace 30 The laces known at that period [1665] were—..5. Mignonette. —A light, fine, pillow lace... This lace was..at times in high favour..for head-dresses and other trimmings. 1900 Mrs. F. N. Jackson Hand-made Lace 182 Mignonette was a narrow lace, never exceeding two or three inches... Mignonette pattern is still largely made. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
mignonette-coloured adj.,
mignonette-green,
mignonette-grey (see 1 c),
mignonette-pot;
mignonette netting (see
quot.);
mignonette pepper, coarsely ground pepper;
mignonette-vine (see
quot.).
| 1897 Daily News 2 Mar. 5/4 *Mignonette-coloured crêpe de Chine. |
| 1888 Lady 25 Oct. 374/3 Alternate bows or loops of *mignonette-green and pale salmon-coloured ribbon. |
| 1900 Daily News 3 Mar. 6/5 Tones of..cigar-brown, and *mignonette-grey are in great favour. |
| 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 361/2, *Mignonette Netting.—This is used for curtains and window blinds, it being extremely easy, and worked with one Mesh. |
| 1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery 1177 *Mignonette Pepper. |
| 1840 Thackeray Pict. Rhapsody Wks. 1900 XIII. 331 The *mignonette pots in a Cockney's window. |
| 1896 T. W. Sanders Encycl. Gard. (ed. 2), Madaria (*Mignonette Vine).—Ord. Compositæ. Hardy Annual. Nat. California... Flowers, yellow. |