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mint (coin)

mint

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

mint in botany, common name for members of the Labiatae, a large family of chiefly annual or perennial herbs. Several species are shrubby or climbing forms or, rarely, small trees. Members of the family are found throughout the world, but the chief center of distribution is the Mediterranean region, where these plants form a dominant part of the vegetation. The Labiatae typically have square stems, paired opposite leaves, and tubular flowers with two lips, the upper divided into two lobes and the lower into three. The leaves sometimes grow in whorls; the flowers may be white or shades of red, blue, or purple.

The family is well known for the aromatic volatile or essential oils in the foliage, which are used in perfumes, flavorings, and medicines. Among the more important essential oils are those derived from sage , lavender , rosemary , patchouli , and the true mints. Many of the commonly used potherbs are from the mint family, e.g., basil , thyme , savory , marjoram , oregano , and the plants mentioned above. As is true of most potherbs and spices, these have a history of medicinal use in domestic remedies. Catnip , pennyroyal , hyssop , self-heal , the horehound of confectionery, and curative teas from such plants as bee balm and yerba buena have been similarly used. Species of the Labiatae are often grown as ornamentals as well as in herb gardens, and in the United States several have escaped cultivation and become naturalized as wildflowers. Types of hyssop, sage, pennyroyal, mint, and lavender are among the prevalent native species.

The true mints belong to the genus Mentha. Commercially the most important species is peppermint ( M. piperita ). The leaves and tops are sometimes dried and utilized for flavoring and in medicine but are chiefly in demand for the oil, distilled out for use as a carminative and stimulant, for its derivative menthol (obtained also from other mints), and for flavoring purposes, especially in chewing gum and candy and as a disguise for disagreeable tastes of drugs. Spearmint ( M. spicata ) is distinguishable from peppermint by the absence of a leafstalk. Its flavor is milder (the aromatic principle is carvone), and it too is used in chewing gum and medicines and is often cultivated in gardens as a flavoring. Both plants are European perennials now naturalized in the United States.

Also useful medicinally and as a source of an essential oil is the pennyroyal. True, or European, pennyroyal ( M. pulegium ) is a prostrate perennial. The species name [Lat.,=fleabane] is an herbalist's name given for the plant's supposed property of driving away fleas. The related American pennyroyal ( Hedeoma pulegioides ) is a branching annual; pennyroyal tea was a traditional domestic remedy. Other American species of Hedeoma and similar genera are also called pennyroyal. The mint family is classified in the division Magnoliophyta , class Magnoliopsida, order Lamiales.

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mint

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

mint1 / mint/ • n. 1. an aromatic plant (genus Mentha) native to temperate regions of the Old World, several kinds of which are used as culinary herbs, including the widely cultivated spearmint (M. spicata) and peppermint (M. × piperita). Members of the mint family (Labiatae, or Lamiaceae), including such herbs as lavender, rosemary, sage, and thyme, have distinctive two-lobed flowers and square stems. 2. a mint-flavored candy. DERIVATIVES: mint·y adj. (mint·i·er , mint·i·est ) . mint2 • n. a place where money is coined, esp. under state authority. ∎  (a mint) inf. a vast sum of money: the car doesn't cost a mint. • adj. (of an object) in pristine condition; as new: a pair of speakers including stands, mint, $160. • v. [tr.] (often be minted) make (a coin) by stamping metal. ∎  [usu. as adj.] (minted) produce for the first time: an example of newly minted technology. PHRASES: in mint condition (of an object) new or as if new.DERIVATIVES: mint·er n.

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mint

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

mint a place where money is coined, especially under state authority. Recorded from Old English (in form mynet ‘coin’, and of West Germanic origin) the word is related to Dutch munt and German Münze, from Latin moneta ‘money’.
The Mint was a name given to a place of privilege formerly existing near the King's or Queen's Bench Prison in Southwark abolished by statute in 1723; to send someone to the Mint was to ruin them. The place took its name from a house which had been a ‘mint of coynage’ for Henry VIII, and so subject to royal privilege. Because it acted as a shelter for debtors it attracted a large number of poor and destitute people, and in mid-18th century poetry it was put on a similar level with Bedlam and Newgate.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mint." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mint." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-mint.html

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mint

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

mint place where legal coinage is manufactured. The name is derived from the temple of Juno Moneta, Rome, where silver coins were made as early as 269 BC Mints existed earlier elsewhere, as in Lydia and in Greece; from there coinage was introduced into Italy. The first U.S. mint was established in Philadelphia in 1792. In 1991, U.S. mints operated in West Point, N.Y., Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. See also numismatics ; coin ; medal .

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mint

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

mint In botany, any species of aromatic herbs, with a characteristic flavour, of the genus Mentha. It is commonly used as a flavouring in cooking, confectionery, and medicines. Most species have oval leaves and spikes of purple or pink flowers. Family Lamiaceae/Labiatae. See also peppermint
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mint

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

mint1 † coin OE.; place where money is coined XV. OE. mynet, corr. (with variation of gender) to OS. munita (Du. munt), OHG. muniz(za) (G. münze) — WGmc. *munita — L. monēta; see MONEY.
Hence mint vb. coin XVI; not continuous with OE. mynetian. mintage XVI.
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T. F. HOAD. "mint." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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mint

A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition | 2005 | | Copyright

mint Aromatic herbs, Mentha spp., including spearmint (garden mint), M. spicata; peppermint, M. piperita. Oil of peppermint is distilled from stem and leaves of M. piperita, and used both pharmaceutically and as a flavour.
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DAVID A. BENDER. "mint." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAVID A. BENDER. "mint." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-mint.html

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Mint

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms | 1985 | Copyright

Mint

a vast sum of money or something of equal value.

Examples: mint of bravery, 1869; of money, 1655; of phrases; of questions, 1598; of reasons.
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mint

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

mint2 aromatic plant. OE. minte = OHG. minza (G. minze):- WGmc. *minta — L. ment(h)a — Gr. mínthē (also mínthos).
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mint

A Dictionary of Plant Sciences | 1998 | | Copyright

mint See MENTHA.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "mint." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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mint

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

mint •acquaint, ain't, attaint, complaint, constraint, distraint, faint, feint, paint, plaint, quaint, restraint, saint, taint •spray-paint • greasepaint • warpaint •asquint, bint, clint, dint, flint, glint, hint, imprint, lint, mint, misprint, print, quint, skint, splint, sprint, squint, stint, tint •Septuagint • skinflint • catmint •varmint • spearmint • calamint •peppermint • enprint • screen print •offprint • blueprint • newsprint •footprint • thumbprint • fingerprint •monotint • mezzotint • aquatint •pint • Geraint •Comte, conte, font, fount, pont, quant, Vermont, want •Delfont • vicomte • Frémont •piedmont • Beaumont • Hellespont •passant • poste restante •avaunt, daunt, flaunt, gaunt, haunt, jaunt, taunt, vaunt

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Mint condition mint condition.(Flavor/Gracious Living)
Newspaper article from: The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); 8/9/2006
Mints for every taste. (includes recipe for Raspberry Mint Tea Cooler by...
Magazine article from: Sunset; 3/22/1996
Mints for every taste. (cultivating mint plants)
Magazine article from: Sunset; 8/1/1995
mint images
mint. (Image by Nova, GFDL)

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