miniature
Definitions
A very small copy or model of something.
微型复制品，缩小模型。
A small, finely detailed painting, especially a portrait.
微型画，小型肖像画。
Much smaller than the usual size.
微型的，小型的。
Root Breakdown
LoanwordSurprisingly, miniature did not start from 'mini.' It comes from Italian miniatura, a small picture painted with minium (red lead) in medieval manuscripts. Because such illustrations were tiny, the word fused with the minu/'small' family and now simply means 'a very small version.'
Root minu still carries 49 more wordsWhy It Means This
A folk-etymology success story. 'Miniature' truly comes from minium, red-lead pigment, via the painted miniatures of old manuscripts — nothing to do with 'small' at first. But because those pictures were tiny and the word sounded like mini-/minute, speakers reinterpreted it as 'small thing,' and that meaning won. Today it lives comfortably inside the minu family.
Common Collocations
- 1.in miniature缩小版的
- 2.miniature version微型版本
- 3.miniature model微型模型
- 4.miniature painting微型画
Example Sentences
- 1.
She collects miniature furniture for her doll's house.
- 2.
The museum displays sixteenth-century portrait miniatures.
- 3.
He built a miniature railway in his garden.