mica
English
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Latin mīca (“grain, crumb”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editmica (countable and uncountable, plural micas)
- (mineralogy) Any of a group of hydrous aluminosilicate minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic.
- 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 214:
- His little eyes glittered like mica discs with curiosity, though he tried to keep up a bit of superciliousness.
Derived terms
editTranslations
edit
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See also
editFurther reading
editAnagrams
editAragonese
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editVulgar Latin *mīcca, from Latin mīca (“crumb”) with expression gemination of /k/. Compare Occitan mica and Catalan mica.
Noun
editmica f
- a bit, a small piece
Adverb
editmica
- a bit, few
- (in negative phrases) at all
- No me fa mica goi. ― I don't like it at all.
- any
- No gastes mica d’aceite ― Don't use any oil
- No queda mica de sal. ― There isn't any salt left.
Etymology 2
editNoun
editmica f
Catalan
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editInherited from Old Catalan mica, from Vulgar Latin *mīcca, from Latin mīca (“crumb”) with expression gemination of /k/. Compare Occitan mica and Aragonese mica.
Noun
editmica f (plural miques)
- a bit, a small piece
Derived terms
editEtymology 2
editNoun
editmica f (plural miques)
References
edit- “mica” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “mica”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “mica” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “mica” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Dutch
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editAudio: (file) - Hyphenation: mi‧ca
Noun
editmica n (plural mica's)
French
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Latin mīca. Doublet of mie and miche.
Pronunciation
editAudio: (file)
Noun
editmica f (plural micas)
Further reading
edit- “mica”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Galician
editEtymology
editLearned borrowing from Latin mīca.
Noun
editmica f (uncountable)
Italian
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editFrom Latin mīca, from Proto-Italic *smīkā, from Proto-Indo-European *smeyg- (“small, thin, delicate”).
Noun
editmica f (plural miche)
Related terms
editAdverb
editmica
- (colloquial) not
- Mica male! ― Not bad!
- (colloquial) hardly, you know
- Mica sono stupido
- I’m hardly stupid; I’m not stupid, you know
- (colloquial) bit
- Non è mica cambiato ― It hasn't changed one bit
- (colloquial) at all
- Non costa mica molto ― It is not at all expensive
- (colloquial) by any chance
- Non hai mica trovato il mio portafoglio?
- Have you seen my wallet by any chance?
Etymology 2
editBorrowed from Latin mīca, the same source as the above.
Noun
editmica f (plural miche)
- (mineralogy) mica (mineral)
Anagrams
editLatin
editAlternative forms
edit- mīcca (attested in 1485, Du Cange)
Etymology
editUncertain:
- traditionally derived from Proto-Italic *(s)mīkā, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meyk- (“small, thin, delicate”), related to Ancient Greek (σ)μῑκρός ((s)mīkrós) – details there.
- in view of meaning (1), De Vaan (2008) with Nyman (1987) prefer Proto-Italic *meikā (“a glittering particle”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyk- (“to blink”), whence also micō.
Attested from Cato onwards.
A number of Romance forms, e.g. Romanian mic, Neapolitan miccu, Calabrian/Sicilian miccu, reflect an unattested adjective *mīccus. This is probably unrelated, being a borrowing from Ancient Greek μῑκκός (mīkkós), variant of μῑκρός (mīkrós, “small”); the form *mīcca is associated with the meaning “loaf of bread” particularly in Gallo-Romance and Gallo-Italic.[1]
Pronunciation
edit- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈmiː.ka/, [ˈmiːkä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈmi.ka/, [ˈmiːkä]
Noun
editmīca f (genitive mīcae); first declension
- a grain (esp. a glittering one: of salt, marble, etc.), crumb
- (Medieval Latin, Gallia) a miche (a round loaf of brown bread)
- (New Latin, mineralogy) mica
Declension
editFirst-declension noun.
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | mīca | mīcae |
genitive | mīcae | mīcārum |
dative | mīcae | mīcīs |
accusative | mīcam | mīcās |
ablative | mīcā | mīcīs |
vocative | mīca | mīcae |
Derived terms
editDescendants
edit- Eastern Romance:
- Romanian: mică
- Italian: mica
- Old French: mie
- French: mie
- Old Galician-Portuguese: miga
- Old Spanish: miga
- Spanish: miga
- → English: mica
- → French: mica
- → Galician: mica
- → Portuguese: mica
- → Spanish: mica
- ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *mīcca
References
edit- “mīca” in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL Open Access), Berlin (formerly Leipzig): De Gruyter (formerly Teubner), 1900–present
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “mīca”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 378
- ^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “mīca”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 6/2: Mercatio–Mneme, page 76
Further reading
edit- “mica”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “mica”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- mica in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- mica in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Portuguese
editPronunciation
edit
- Hyphenation: mi‧ca
Etymology 1
editBorrowed from Latin mīca. Doublet of miga.
Noun
editmica f (plural micas)
- (mineralogy) mica (hydrous aluminosilicate mineral)
- Synonym: (Brazil) malacacheta
- (Portugal) sheet protector (clear plastic sleeve for documents)
- (electronics) mica insulator
- (by extension) any such insulator
- mica de silicone
- silicone insulator
- (by extension) any such insulator
- a little bit, crum
- (Portugal, regional) goat
Related terms
editEtymology 2
editSee the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
editmica
- inflection of micar:
References
edit- “mica”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024
- “mica”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2024
- “mica”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2024
- “mica” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
Romanian
editPronunciation
editAdjective
editmica
Spanish
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Latin mīca. Compare the inherited doublet miga.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editmica f (plural micas)
- (mineralogy) mica
- (playground games, uncountable, El Salvador) tag, it (children's chasing game)
Related terms
editFurther reading
edit- “mica”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
- ¿Recuerdas cómo te divertías de pequeño? Estos son los juegos más tradicionales en El Salvador – Diario El Salvador
- Los juegos tradicionales de El Salvador de nuestra infancia | Guanacos
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aɪkə
- Rhymes:English/aɪkə/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Minerals
- English terms with quotations
- Aragonese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Aragonese/ika
- Rhymes:Aragonese/ika/2 syllables
- Aragonese terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Aragonese terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Aragonese terms inherited from Latin
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- Aragonese lemmas
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- an:Minerals
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan terms inherited from Old Catalan
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- Catalan terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Catalan terms inherited from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan feminine nouns
- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- ca:Minerals
- Dutch terms borrowed from Latin
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- Dutch terms with audio pronunciation
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch neuter nouns
- nl:Minerals
- French terms borrowed from Latin
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- French doublets
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- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
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- fr:Minerals
- Galician terms borrowed from Latin
- Galician learned borrowings from Latin
- Galician terms derived from Latin
- Galician lemmas
- Galician nouns
- Galician uncountable nouns
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- gl:Minerals
- Italian 2-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ika
- Rhymes:Italian/ika/2 syllables
- Italian terms inherited from Latin
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- Italian lemmas
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- Italian terms with archaic senses
- Italian literary terms
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- it:Minerals
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Latin terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *meyk-
- Latin terms with unknown etymologies
- Latin terms inherited from Proto-Italic
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- Latin 2-syllable words
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- la:Minerals
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- Portuguese countable nouns
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- pt:Minerals
- European Portuguese
- pt:Electronics
- Portuguese terms with usage examples
- Regional Portuguese
- Portuguese non-lemma forms
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- Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Romanian/ikɐ
- Rhymes:Romanian/ikɐ/2 syllables
- Romanian non-lemma forms
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- Spanish terms borrowed from Latin
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- Rhymes:Spanish/ika
- Rhymes:Spanish/ika/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
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- Spanish countable nouns
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- es:Minerals
- es:Playground games
- Spanish uncountable nouns
- Salvadorian Spanish