Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Minion

Min′ion

,
Noun.
Minimum.
[Obs.]
Burton.

Min′ion

,
Noun.
[F.
mignon
, fr. OHG.
minni
love, G.
minne
; akin to E.
mind
. See
Mind
, and cf.
Mignonette
.]
1.
A loved one; one highly esteemed and favored; – in a good sense.
[Obs.]
God’s disciple and his dearest
minion
.
Sylvester.
Is this the Athenian
minion
whom the world
Voiced so regardfully?
Shakespeare
2.
An obsequious or servile dependent or agent of another; a fawning favorite.
Sir J. Davies.
Go, rate thy
minions
, proud, insulting boy!
Shakespeare
3.
(Print.)
A small kind of type, in size between brevier and nonpareil.
This line is printed in minion type.
4.
An ancient form of ordnance, the caliber of which was about three inches.
[Obs.]
Beau. & Fl.

Min′ion

,
Adj.
[See 2d
Minion
.]
Fine; trim; dainty.
[Obs.]
“Their . . . minion dancing.”
Fryth.

Webster 1828 Edition


Minion

MIN'ION

,
Adj.
[infra.] Fine; trim; dainty. [Not used.]

Definition 2024


minion

minion

English

Noun

minion (countable and uncountable, plural minions)

  1. A loyal servant of another, usually a more powerful being.
    • 2013 May-June, Kevin Heng, Why Does Nature Form Exoplanets Easily?”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 184:
      In the past two years, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has located nearly 3,000 exoplanet candidates ranging from sub-Earth-sized minions to gas giants that dwarf our own Jupiter.
    The archvillain deployed his minions to simultaneously rob every bank in the city.
  2. A sycophantic follower.
  3. (obsolete) A loved one; one highly esteemed and favoured.
    • Sylvester
      God's disciple and his dearest minion
    • William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, IV-III
      Is this the Athenian minion whom the world / Voiced so regardfully?
  4. (obsolete) An ancient form of ordnance with a calibre of about three inches.
    • 1647, Francis Beaumont, Philip Massinger, The Double Marriage (play), published 1717, page 19:
      Gun. My Cannons rung like Bells. Here's to my Mistress, The dainty sweet brass Minion: split their Fore-mast, She never fail'd.
  5. (uncountable, typography, printing) The size of type between nonpareil and brevier, standardized as 7-point.
  6. Obsolete form of minimum.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Burton to this entry?)

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

minion (comparative more minion, superlative most minion)

  1. (obsolete) Favoured, beloved; "pet".

Chuukese

Etymology

Borrowing from English million.

Numeral

minion

  1. (cardinal) million