mini

Mini– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “small,” “limited,” or “short.” It is often used in a variety of everyday and technical terms, especially in fashion.

Mini– comes from a shortening of the terms miniature, minimal, or minimum, all expressing small size or a low limit. Minimum comes from Latin minimus, meaning “smallest” or “least.” Related to this root is Latin minor, meaning “smaller,” which was borrowed into English as minor, meaning “lesser in size.” Find out more at our entry for each word.

An example of a word you may have encountered that features mini– is miniskirt, “a very short skirt, ending several inches above the knee.”

While mini– means “short,” the –skirt part of the word refers to a skirt. Miniskirt literally means “very short skirt.”

What are some words that use the combining form mini-?

• minibar
• minibus
• minicab
• minidress
• minikin (using the equivalent form of mini– in Middle Dutch)
• minilab
• mininuke

What are some other forms that mini– may be commonly confused with?

• midi-
• milli-
• mis-

Not every word that begins with the exact letters mini-, such as minion or mining, is necessarily using the combining form mini– to denote “small.” Learn why minion means “a servile follower” at our entry for the word.

Given the meaning of mini-, what is a minibus?