minced
UK[mɪnst]US[mɪnst]
adj
(of food, especially meat) cut up or ground into very small pieces.
verb (past tense and past participle of mince)
To cut or chop (food, especially meat) into very small pieces. To walk or speak in an affectedly dainty or delicate way.
Morpheme Breakdown
mince
d
mince
small
d
Etymology
The word 'minced' originates from the verb 'mince', which entered English in the 14th century from the Old French mincier, meaning "to make small, chop finely." This French term derives from the Vulgar Latin verb minutiare, a derivative of the Latin adjective minutus, meaning "small, minute," which itself comes from the verb minuere, "to lessen, diminish." The core semantic thread from Latin to modern English is the concept of reduction in size. The addition of the '-d' suffix is a standard Germanic grammatical process, transforming the action into its completed past or descriptive adjectival form. Thus, 'minced' logically conveys the state of having been made small or fine through chopping.
Analysis
Structure: mince + d
- mince: From Old French mincier, from Vulgar Latin minutiare, from Latin minutus meaning "small". Functions as the verb root meaning "to cut into small pieces".
- d: A suffix representing the regular past tense and past participle inflection in English. Its functional role is to indicate the verb's tense or participial form.
Examples
The recipe calls for one pound of minced beef.
She minced the garlic finely before adding it to the pan.
He spoke with a slightly minced accent that seemed affected.