Word.ws English Dictionary

minnie

/ˈmɪni/

minnie is the alternative form of minnow.

Meaning of minnow

Noun

minnow (plural minnows)

  1. Any of certain small fish.
    • I have obſerved, as I have ſat by a ſpout of vvater, vvhich decſends from a ſtone trough about tvvo feet into a ſtream belovv, at particular ſeaſons of the year, a great number of little fiſh called minums, or pinks, throvv themſelves about tvventy times their ovvn length out of the vvater...1794, Erasmus Darwin, “Sect. XVI. Of Instinct.”, in Zoonomia; or, The Laws of Organic Life, volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, paragraph 6, page 175
    Synonyms:
    minim, pinkeen
    1. The common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), a small freshwater fish of the carp family Cyprinidae which has a green back with black elongated blotches, commonly swimming in large shoals.
      • Most minnows are small fish with cycloid scales, soft rays supporting their fins, and toothless jaws. Some possess barbels on their upper jaw, and many species develop nuptial tubercles during the breeding season. […] Minnows are arguably the most difficult group of freshwater fishes to identify...2004, Robert G. Werner, “Carps and Minnows: Family Cyprinidae”, in Freshwater Fishes of the Northeastern United States: A Field Guide, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 74
    2. Chiefly with a qualifying word: That fish or any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae.
    3. (US) Any of those fish or other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families.
    4. (Australia, New Zealand) Synonym of galaxiid (“any member of the family Galaxiidae of mostly small freshwater fish of the Southern Hemisphere”); specifically, the common galaxias, inanga, or jollytail (Galaxias maculatus).
    5. (UK, regional) Synonym of stickleback (family Gasterosteidae).
      • In quiet, sheltered places, where the water is clear but does not run too swiftly, the ‘minnie,’ as the stickleback is locally called, makes its nest by the bank. […] On these fibres the ova are deposited, and they are then either purposely partly covered with sand by the minnie, or else the...1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter XIX, in Wild Life in a Southern County […], London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 356

See all 12 meanings of minnow

Noun (1)

minnie (plural minnies)

  1. (Northern England, Scotland, childish, endearing, obsolete) Mother, mummy.

Noun (2)

minnie (plural minnies)

  1. (World-War-I, slang) A minenwerfer trench mortar.

Proper noun capitalized: Minnie

Minnie (countable and uncountable, plural Minnies)

  1. A diminutive of the female names Wilhelmina, Minerva, Mary, Mina, Mamie and Hermione. Popular as a formal female given name in the 19th century.
    • When they are used to express the affectionate regard of near friends and relatives they also may be pretty and appropriate, but they look very silly in a formal signature, and surely do not befit the dignity of womanhood. We had, for instance, among these 800 names scores of Minnies, Mamies, and...1880 Emily Faithfull, The Victoria Magazine, v.36 (July-Dec 1880), page 264
  2. A surname.
  3. (US, slang) Minneapolis.
  4. Alternative letter-case form of minnie (“minenwerfer trench mortar”).

Forms of minnie

Noun
pluralminnies
alternative formMinnie
Proper noun
pluralMinnies

Origin of minnie

A variant of minnow.

Uncertain; probably a variant of mammy. Compare mummy.

Clipping of minenwerfer + -ie.

Words formed from minnie

Phrases with minnie

Words that rhyme with minnie

11 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about minnie

What does minnie mean?
Minnie means mother, mummy.
What is minnie the alternative form of?
Minnie is the alternative form of minnow.
What part of speech is minnie?
Minnie can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce minnie?
Minnie is pronounced /ˈmɪni/.
What is the plural of minnie?
The plural of minnie is minnies.

Words near minnie in the dictionary

  1. minni ritchi
  2. Minnich
  3. Minniches
  4. Minnick
  5. Minnicks
  6. minnie
  7. Minnie Water
  8. Minniear
  9. Minniears
  10. minniebush
  11. minniebushes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: minnie (page history and authors); Minnie (page history and authors); minnow (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-minnie.wav.

Cite this entry: “minnie.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/minnie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.