See also: Mica, Míča, mică, and míca

English

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A sheet of mica

Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin mīca (grain, crumb).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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mica (countable and uncountable, plural micas)

  1. (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.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Aragonese

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈmika/
  • Rhymes: -ika
  • Syllabification: mi‧ca

Etymology 1

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Vulgar Latin *mīcca, from Latin mīca (crumb) with expression gemination of /k/. Compare Occitan mica and Catalan mica.

Noun

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mica f

  1. a bit, a small piece

Adverb

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mica

  1. a bit, few
  2. (in negative phrases) at all
    No me fa mica goi.I don't like it at all.
  3. any
    No gastes mica d’aceiteDon't use any oil
    No queda mica de sal.There isn't any salt left.

Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Latin mīca.

Noun

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mica f

  1. (mineralogy) mica

Catalan

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Old Catalan mica, from Vulgar Latin *mīcca, from Latin mīca (crumb) with expression gemination of /k/. Compare Occitan mica and Aragonese mica.

Noun

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mica f (plural miques)

  1. a bit, a small piece
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Latin mīca.

Noun

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mica f (plural miques)

  1. (mineralogy) mica

References

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Dutch

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Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin mīca.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: mi‧ca

Noun

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mica n (plural mica's)

  1. (mineralogy) mica

French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin mīca. Doublet of mie and miche.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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mica f (plural micas)

  1. (mineralogy) mica

Further reading

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Galician

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin mīca.

Noun

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mica f (uncountable)

  1. (mineralogy) mica

Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈmi.ka/
  • Rhymes: -ika
  • Hyphenation: mì‧ca

Etymology 1

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From Latin mīca, from Proto-Italic *smīkā, from Proto-Indo-European *smeyg- (small, thin, delicate).

Noun

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mica f (plural miche)

  1. (archaic or literary) breadcrumb
  2. (by extension) bit, morsel
    Synonym: minuzzolo
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Adverb

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mica

  1. (colloquial) not
    Mica male!Not bad!
  2. (colloquial) hardly, you know
    Mica sono stupido
    I’m hardly stupid; I’m not stupid, you know
  3. (colloquial) bit
    Non è mica cambiatoIt hasn't changed one bit
  4. (colloquial) at all
    Non costa mica moltoIt is not at all expensive
  5. (colloquial) by any chance
    Non hai mica trovato il mio portafoglio?
    Have you seen my wallet by any chance?

Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Latin mīca, the same source as the above.

Noun

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mica f (plural miche)

  1. (mineralogy) mica (mineral)

Anagrams

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Latin

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Alternative forms

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  • mīcca (attested in 1485, Du Cange)

Etymology

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Uncertain:

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

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Noun

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mīca f (genitive mīcae); first declension

  1. a grain (esp. a glittering one: of salt, marble, etc.), crumb
  2. (Medieval Latin, Gallia) a miche (a round loaf of brown bread)
  3. (New Latin, mineralogy) mica

Declension

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First-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative mīca mīcae
genitive mīcae mīcārum
dative mīcae mīcīs
accusative mīcam mīcās
ablative mīcā mīcīs
vocative mīca mīcae

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Eastern Romance:
    • Romanian: mică
  • Italian: mica
  • Old French: mie
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: miga
  • Old Spanish: miga
  • English: mica
  • French: mica
  • Galician: mica
  • Portuguese: mica
  • Spanish: mica
  • Vulgar Latin: *mīcca

References

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  1. ^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “mīca”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 6/2: Mercatio–Mneme, page 76

Further reading

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  • 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

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Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: mi‧ca

Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Latin mīca. Doublet of miga.

Noun

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mica f (plural micas)

  1. (mineralogy) mica (hydrous aluminosilicate mineral)
    Synonym: (Brazil) malacacheta
  2. (Portugal) sheet protector (clear plastic sleeve for documents)
  3. (electronics) mica insulator
    1. (by extension) any such insulator
      mica de silicone
      silicone insulator
  4. a little bit, crum
  5. (Portugal, regional) goat
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Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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mica

  1. inflection of micar:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

References

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Romanian

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mica

  1. definite nominative/accusative feminine singular of mic

Spanish

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Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia es

Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin mīca. Compare the inherited doublet miga.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈmika/ [ˈmi.ka]
  • Rhymes: -ika
  • Syllabification: mi‧ca

Noun

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mica f (plural micas)

  1. (mineralogy) mica
  2. (playground games, uncountable, El Salvador) tag, it (children's chasing game)
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Further reading

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