mei-2. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

Appendix I

Indo-European Roots

ENTRY:	mei-²
DEFINITION:	Small. Derivatives include menu, mince, minestrone, and minister. 1. meiosis; Miocene, from Greek mein, less, lesser, from extended variant meiu-. 2. Zero-grade compounded suffixed form ne-mi-s (see ne). 3. Suffixed zero-grade form mi-nu-. a. menu, mince, minuend, minuet, minute², minutia, comminute, diminish, from Latin minuere,* to reduce, diminish; b. minor, minus; minuscule, from Latin minor (influenced by the comparative suffix -or), less, lesser, smaller; c. further suffixed (superlative) form minu-mo-. minim, minimum, from Latin minimus,* least; d. minestrone, minister, ministry, mystery², from Latin minister, an inferior, servant (formed after magister, master; see meg-); e. Menshevik, from Russian men'she, less. (Pokorny 5. mei- 711.)


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.