Wiktionary

mica

See also: Mica, mică, and míca

English edit

 
A sheet of mica

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin mīca (“grain, crumb”).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

mica (countable and uncountable, plural micas)

  2. (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 edit

Translations edit

See also edit

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Aragonese edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA: /'mi.ka/

Etymology 1 edit

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

Noun edit

mica f

  1. a bit, a small piece

Adverb edit

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’aceite ― Don't use any oil
    No queda mica de sal. ― There isn't any salt left.

Etymology 2 edit

Borrowed from Latin mīca.

Noun edit

mica f

  1. (mineralogy) mica

Catalan edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

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 edit

mica f (plural miques)

  1. a bit, a small piece
Derived terms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Borrowed from Latin mīca.

Noun edit

mica f (plural miques)

  1. (mineralogy) mica

References edit

Dutch edit

 
Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin mīca.

Pronunciation edit

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

Noun edit

mica n (plural mica's)

  1. (mineralogy) mica

French edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin mīca. Doublet of mie and miche.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

mica f (plural micas)

  1. (mineralogy) mica

Further reading edit

Galician edit

Etymology edit

Learned borrowing from Latin mīca.

Noun edit

mica f (uncountable)

  1. (mineralogy) mica

Italian edit

Pronunciation edit

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

Etymology 1 edit

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

Noun edit

mica f (plural miche)

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

Adverb edit

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 cambiato ― It hasn't changed one bit
  4. (colloquial) at all
    Non costa mica molto ― It 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 edit

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

Noun edit

mica f (plural miche)

  1. (mineralogy) mica (mineral)

Anagrams edit

Latin edit

Alternative forms edit

  • mīcca (attested in 1485, Du Cange)

Etymology edit

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 edit

Noun edit

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 edit

First-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative mīca mīcae
Genitive mīcae mīcārum
Dative mīcae mīcīs
Accusative mīcam mīcās
Ablative mīcā mīcīs
Vocative mīca mīcae

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • 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 edit

  1. ^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “mīca”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), 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 edit

Pronunciation edit

  • Hyphenation: mi‧ca

Etymology 1 edit

Borrowed from Latin mīca. Compare the inherited doublet miga.

Noun edit

mica f (plural micas)

  1. (mineralogy) mica (hydrous aluminosilicate mineral)
Related terms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Verb edit

mica

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

Romanian edit

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

mica

  1. definite nominative/accusative feminine singular of mic

Spanish edit

 
Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia es

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin mīca. Compare the inherited doublet miga.

Pronunciation edit

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

Noun edit

mica f (plural micas)

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

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

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