Minion

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɪnjÉ™n/
• Homophones: minyan
• Rhymes: -ɪnjÉ™n

Origin

1490, from Middle French mignon ("lover, royal favourite, darling"), from Old French mignot ("dainty, pleasing, gentle, kind"), from Frankish *minnijo ("love, friendship, affection, memory"), from Proto-Germanic *minþijō, *mindijō ("affectionate thought, care"), from Proto-Indo-European *men-, *mnā- ("to think"). Cognate with Old High German minnja ("love, care, affection, desire, memory"), Old Saxon minnea ("love"). More at mind.

Full definition of minion

Noun

1. A loyal servant of another, usually a more powerful being.
• 2013, Kevin Heng, Why Does Nature Form Exoplanets Easily?, 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.
2. The archvillain deployed his minions to simultaneously rob every bank in the city.
3. A sycophantic follower.
4. (obsolete) A loved one; one highly esteemed and favoured.
• SylvesterGod's disciple and his dearest minion
• William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, IV-IIIIs this the Athenian minion whom the world
  Voiced so regardfully?
5. (obsolete) An ancient form of ordnance with a calibre of about three inches.
6. (typography, uncountable) A size of type smaller than brevier but larger than nonpareil, roughly equivalent to 7pt.
7. Obsolete form of minimum

Synonyms

• (loyal servant) disciple, follower, henchman, stooge, toady

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Favoured, beloved; "pet".
• 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, vol. 1 p. 148:These favours, with the commodities that follow minion Courtiers, corrupt ... his libertie, and dazle his judgement.