minnow
(ˈmɪnəʊ)
Forms: [4 Sc. menoun,] 5 menawe, 5–8 menow, (5 pl. menwus), 6 menewe, menowe, 6–8 minew, 6–8, 9 dial. minnie, -ny, 7 menew, mynnowe, minoe, -ow, 7–9 mennow, 9 dial. or slang minner, 6– minnow.
[Prob. repr. OE. *mynwe wk. fem. = OHG. munewa, munua (? for *muniwa) glossing L. capedo i.e. capito, a fish with a large head. The recorded OE. myne str. masc. (pl. mynas) glosses L. capito and mena; it is not certain what fish was meant; the L. capito is also rendered ǽlep{uacu}ta eel-pout. The forms, and perh. the application, of the word have been influenced by association with F. menu (poisson) small (fish). Cf. menise.
The Sc. form menoun in Barbour may perhaps represent an AF. formation on the Eng. word. Cf. mod.Sc. menon, mennom.]
1. a. A small cyprinoid freshwater fish, Leuciscus phoxinus or Phoxinus lævis, common in the streams, lakes, and ponds of Europe. Often loosely applied to any small fish; in Eng. dialects chiefly to the stickleback (Gastrosteus). In the U.S. it is applied (sometimes with prefixed defining word) to many different fishes of small size, chiefly cyprinoids; and in Australasia to fishes of the genus Galaxias.
In early quots. the application of the name is uncertain.
| [1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 577 Trowtis, elys, and als menovnys.] 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 704/44 Hic solimicus, a menawe. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 54 Trouȝte, sperlynges and menwus. 1496 Bk. St. Albans, Fishing (1883) 30 The menow whan he shynith in the water, thenne is he byttyr. 1558 Act 1 Eliz. c. 17 §4 Places where Smeltes, Loches, Mynneis,..or Eeles, hathe been used to bee taken. 1611 Cotgr., Freguereul, the little fish called, a Mennow. 1635–56 Cowley Davideis i. 1024 The mute Fish witness no less his Praise... From Minoes to those living Islands, Whales. 1668 Charleton Onomasticon 160 Phoxinus Lævis, seu varius..the Minow, or Minoe. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Menow, a little Fresh-water Fish, otherwise call'd a Cackrel. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 60 The minnow, though one of the smallest fishes, is as excellent a one to eat as any of the most famed. 1808 Wolcot (P. Pindar) One more Peep at R.A. Wks. 1816 IV. 405 To move a mennow, who would wish—In paltry brooks a paltry fish—While Nature offers him to roll a whale! 1820 in Smithsonian Collect. (1877) XIII. ix. i. 32, 51st species, Red Minny, Rutilus ? Ruber. 1877 Jordan ibid. 32 note, I add here a fine small fish,..it is said to live in the small streams which fall into the Elkhorn and Kentucky. It is a slender fish, only 2 inches long... It is commonly called Red-minny. Ibid. 30 note, Length [of Warty Chubby] from 3 to 4 inches, often called Minny or Red-Fin. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S. Co. 356 The minnie, as the stickleback is locally called. 1880 Günther Fishes 596 Other similar genera [sc. of carps] from the fresh waters of North America, and generally called ‘Minnows’, are Pimephales [etc.]. Ibid. 599 The ‘Minnow’ (Leuciscus phoxinus), abundant everywhere in Europe, and growing to a length of seven inches. 1898 Morris Austral Eng. s.v., Manga..a New Zealand fish... It is often called the Whitebait and Minnow. |
b. transf. and
fig., as a type of smallness.
a Triton of or among the minnows: one who appears great by contrast with the insignificance of all those around him.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 251 That low-spirited Swaine, that base Minow of thy Myrth. 1607 ― Cor. iii. i. 89 Heare you this Triton of the Minnowes? 1796 Lamb Let. to Coleridge 27 May (end), My civic and poetic compliments to Southey if at Bristol. Why, he is a very Leviathan of Bards!—the small minnow, I! 1906 A. Noyes Drake ii. in Blackw. Mag. Apr. 470 Those five Small ships mere minnows clinging to the flanks Of that Leviathan. |
2. Angling.
a. A minnow attached to a hook in such a manner as to serve as a bait for other fish.
b. An artificial fish made in the form and colour of a minnow, and used as a bait.
| 1615 Markham Country Contentm. i. xiv. (1668) 72 His best bait is a little small Roch, Dace, or Menew. 1622 Peacham Compl. Gentl. xxi. (1634) 252 For your live baits, they are wormes of all kinds,..Gudgens, or Loches, Mynnowes, &c. 1651 T. Barker Art of Angling (1653) 4 The angling with a menow..for a Trout is a pleasant Sport. 1655 Walton Angler i. v. (1661) 96, I have..an artificial Minnow..the mould or body of the minnow was cloth, and wrought upon or over it thus with a needle, the back [etc.]. 1767 Johnson in Ray's Corr. (1848) 128 They will not only take a worm, or minnow, or other small fish, but swallow the bait with the hook down into the stomach. 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 212 Flexible Minnows..Caledonian Minnows..Phantom Minnows.. Protean Minnows. 1894 Daily News 22 Aug. 5/1 The fact that he [a salmon] bites at a fly or angel minnow is..ascribed to anger. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
minnow-can,
minnow crate;
minnow-fisher, (
a) an angler who fishes with a minnow as bait; (
b) one who fishes for minnows;
minnow-fishing, fishing with a minnow for bait;
minnow-rod, a rod used for spinning with a minnow;
minnow-tackle, fishing tackle used for spinning a minnow;
minnow-tansy, a dish of fried minnows seasoned with tansy;
minnow-trace, a trace intended to carry a minnow;
minnow-twisting vbl. n., erratic movement or behaviour, resembling that of a minnow.
| 1893 Outing (U.S.) XXII. 86/2 The inside of her *minnow-can was lifted with care over the side. |
| 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 214 Folding *Minnow Crate. |
| 1863 Atkinson Stanton Grange (1864) 152 The wonderful skill of a *minnow-fisher. 1895 Bailey's Mag. May 358/1 There is no accusation of easy times that can be justly applied to the minnow-fisher. |
| 1655 Walton Angler i. xviii. (1661) 234 The nimble turning of that [i.e. a sticklebag], or the Minnow, is the perfection of *Minnow-fishing. 1839 T. C. Hofland Brit. Angler's Man. iv. (1841) 70 The first [manner of baiting with a minnow]..is particularly calculated for a clear water, as your tackle is finer than in any other mode of minnow-fishing. |
| Ibid., The *minnow-rod should be of bamboo cane. |
| Ibid. 72 Various kinds of *minnow-tackle may be purchased. |
| 1655 Walton Angler i. xviii. (1661) 231 In the spring they make of them excellent *Minnow-Tansies. |
| 1839 T. C. Hofland Brit. Angler's Man. iv. (1841) 71 You must now prepare a *minnow-trace of three yards of gut. |
| 1935 L. MacNeice Poems 52 The *minnow-twistings of the latinist who alone Nibbles and darts through the shallows of the lexicon. |
b. quasi-adj. Very small, tiny.
| 1824 Dibdin Libr. Comp. 623 The tribe of little minnow pocket-editions. |
Hence
ˈminnowy a., abounding in minnows.
| 1826 Campbell Field Flowers 23 What pictures of pebbled and minnowy brooks. |