mint

views updated May 18 2018

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.

mint

views updated May 21 2018

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.

mint

views updated May 21 2018

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.

mint

views updated May 14 2018

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

mint

views updated Jun 11 2018

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.

mint

views updated Jun 11 2018

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

Mint

views updated Jun 11 2018

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.

mint

views updated May 29 2018

mint See MENTHA.