English
a mite
A mite comes from English mite ‘minute arachnid of the order Acarina’.
- English1500–presentmite‘minute arachnid of the order Acarina’
- Englishearliest quotation 1956a mite
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- English1500–presentmite‘minute arachnid of the order Acarina’
- Englishearliest quotation 1956a mite
Earliest quotation: 1956, Janice Holt Giles, Boston: “Silas, now," Esther Whitley had said, "would be a…”
A compound of a + mite ‘minute arachnid of the order Acarina’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’
Proto-Germanic *ainaz ‘one’
Proto-West Germanic *ain ‘one’
Old English ān ‘one; a certain’
Middle English a
English a
Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘small’
…
Proto-Germanic *mītǭ ‘biting insect’
Proto-West Germanic *mītā
Old English mīte ‘mite, tiny insect’
Middle English mite
English mite
Every English word from English mite
Today it means
adv To a small extent; in a small amount; rather.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English mite / a mite