What is a minion? This foreign word has many interpretations, but few of them are known to the general public. Meanwhile, it is used in various areas of life, for example, in music, photography, and printing. Interpretations, translation of a word, its spelling will be described in the article.
Dictionary word
For the minion token, the meanings given in the dictionary are diverse, although they have a common prototypical meaning. This is a kind of item that is smaller than normal.
Here are a few shades of interpretation:
- An elongated light bulb with a small diameter base. Example: “The seller kindly offered three lamps with incandescent lamps of the minion type, as well as one involving a halogen lamp.”
- The photo is small in size. Example: “In the advertising of electrophotography“ Obraz ”, various photographic works were indicated, including cabinet, business, bijou, boudoir, minions. Also, an increase in portraits was proposed. "
To understand what a minion is, one should consider other interpretations of the word.
In music
- A musical term for a small record: a record or long-playing, with a diameter of 17.5 centimeters. In a broader sense, these are plates of all sizes that are less than 20 centimeters. Example: “This straightforward song performed by a popular singer quickly became a hit, it was released in a minion and was heard from every window.”
- Also in music, marked "historical." So, "Velte Mignon" is a brand of mechanical piano, released by the German factory "Velte". And also any small piano. Example: “They brought a wonderful musical instrument, it was a minion. The four waltzes played on it were especially warmly received by the public. ”
In continuation of the study of what a "minion" will be said about a few of its meanings.
In the printing business
- Typographic term for a font size of less than seven points, which is slightly smaller than petit. (The size is the font size, the height of the letter, measured in points; one point is 0.376 mm. Petite is a font of 8 points). Example: “When all the manuscripts that were in the briefcase of the editorial board were collected, a thick book was formed, consisting of forty-four conditional printed pages, typed in such small print as a minion or petite.”
- The book is a small format. Example: “In order to save space when distributing books“ by height ”it is customary to distribute them according to the main formats - by folios, quarters, octaves, and for small editions - by minions”.
Etymology and Spelling
To deepen the understanding of what a “minion" is, a deepening in its origin will help.
The lexeme under study came to the Russian language from French by borrowing. There is a noun mignon, this word in translation means "cute", "adorable", "tiny". It comes from the old French noun mignot, which, according to linguists, originates in the Celtic language. And also it is compared with the Old Irish adjective min in the meaning of “soft”, “gentle” and with the Old High German nouns minna and minnja, which means “memory”, “love”.
Since when pronouncing the studied lexeme, an unstressed vowel sound is heard unclear in the first syllable, the question often arises: how is the word "minion" spelled? It should be noted that it will not be possible to verify it using any rule, since it is a dictionary, that is, one whose spelling you need to remember. If you look in the dictionary, you can see that this term is written through the letter "and" in the first syllable. The correct spelling is minion, not minion.
Pets of royals and princes
They were called minions in the 15th century in France, later this word became a designation of a devoted servant. Especially in this capacity became famous young people devoted to King Henry III. They caused shock at the courtiers with many impudent and cheerful antics, as well as amorous adventures and noisy revels.
The outfits of the minions were distinctive and contained some elements of the female toilet. These included, for example, wide hernias, which were a kind of frill, curled hair. This kind was often the object of ridicule, as was their immense arrogance. The king gave his beloved lands and titles, he was ready to fulfill any of their whims. This caused anger both among the common people and among the representatives of the nobility.
The famous duel of the minions, during which two favorites died, and the third died later as a result of a serious wound, was a heavy blow for Henry. In memory of them, the king erected a magnificent tomb.