mite
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: mīt
ipa: /maɪt/
rhymes: -aɪt
homophone: might
Forms: form: mites
Etymology: From Middle English mite, from Old English mīte (“mite, tiny insect”), from Proto-West Germanic *mītā, from Proto-Germanic *mītǭ (“biting insect”, literally “cutter”), from *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small”) or *meh₂y- (“to cut”). Akin to Old High German mīza (“mite”), Middle Dutch mīte (“moth, mite”), Dutch mijt (“moth, mite”), Danish mide (“mite”).
Senses: glosses: Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acarina (aka Acari).
examples: text: One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
ref: 1803, William Blake, Auguries of Innocence:
glosses: A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing.
glosses: A lepton, a small coin used in Palestine in the time of Christ.
glosses: A small weight; one twentieth of a grain.
examples: text: a mite
text: It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone or any other important thing — and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He added his little mite — that is all he did.
ref: 1903 March 17, Mark Twain, letter to Helen Keller:
text: "Well," I says, "I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough." She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
text: "Silas, now," Esther Whitley had said, "would be a good one for you, Hannah. He's a mite on the old side, but he's steady, an' he's been wed before. He knows the ways of a woman better'n some."
ref: 1956, Janice Holt Giles, chapter 8, in Hannah Fowler, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, →OCLC; republished Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, 1992, →ISBN, page 69:
text: Those trousers are a mite too big, but you'll soon grow into them.
ref: 1959, Frances Cavanah, Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance, Chicago, Ill.: Rand McNally, →OCLC; Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance (ReadHowYouWant Classics Library), EasyRead large edition, U.S.A.: ReadHowYouWant, 2008, →ISBN, page 30:
synonyms: word: atom
word: speck
word: ace
word: tinge
word: atom
word: trace element
word: aught
word: bissel
word: bit
word: crumb
word: glimpse
word: dab
word: damn
word: dash
word: diddly
word: glint
word: dot
word: spatter
word: drop
word: dusting
word: fleck
word: hint
word: flip
word: flyspeck
word: grain
word: halfpennyworth
word: inch
word: iota
word: jot
word: lick
word: mite
word: modicum
word: molecule
word: morceau
word: morsel
word: mote
word: ooch
word: ounce
word: particle
word: pennyworth
word: piece
word: pinch
word: scantling
word: semblance
word: scent
word: scintilla
word: scooch
word: scrap
word: scruple
word: shred
word: skerrick
word: skoosh
word: skosh
word: sliver
word: smattering
word: smidge
word: smidgen
word: smidget
word: smidgy
word: smitch
word: smithereen
word: soupçon
word: spark
word: speck
word: speckle
word: spot
word: sprinkle
word: sprinkling
word: strain
word: tad
word: tidbit
word: tidge
word: tittle
word: toddick
word: touch
word: trace
word: trifle
word: tuppence worth
word: vestige
word: whiff
word: whit
glosses: Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle.
examples: text: Today's children at Christmas-time take a cast-off toy to the Toy Service held in many churches, and it is a pretty sight to watch those tiny mites clutching their toys and parting from them.j
ref: 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 35:
text: “Tom told me that, but twasn't your fault, the little mite just couldn't wait to be born that's all.” A small smile played on Leah's lips.
ref: 2014, Lorraine F Elli, The Little Town Mouse:
synonyms: word: rogue
word: scamp
word: agitator
word: bad boy
word: bad news
word: bear
word: bhoy
word: blackguard
word: booger
word: boot boy
word: bovver boy
word: brat
word: brawler
word: breedbate
word: buffoon
word: bugger
word: bully
word: charva
word: cutup
word: devil
word: elf
word: enfant terrible
word: firebrand
word: gadfly
word: hell-raiser
word: hood
word: hoodlum
word: hool
word: hoolie
word: hooligan
word: hothead
word: imp
word: inciter
word: initiator
word: instigator
word: jackanapes
word: joker
word: jokester
word: kindle-coal
word: kindle-fire
word: knave
word: lout
word: makebate
word: minx
word: mischief
word: mischief-maker
word: miscreant
word: ne'er-do-well
word: pixie
word: pot stirrer
word: practical joker
word: prankster
word: puck
word: rabble rouser
word: rakeshame
word: rantipole
word: rapscallion
word: rascal
word: rogue
word: roly-poly
word: rowdy
word: ruffian
word: scamp
word: scapegrace
word: scoundrel
word: shit disturber
word: shitmonger
word: shit-stirrer
word: tearaway
word: thug
word: titivil
word: tough
word: troublemaker
word: undesirable
word: vandal
word: wag
word: wagpastie
word: wrangler
word: yob
word: yobbo
glosses: A small or naughty person, or one people take pity on; rascal.
raw_tags: as a term of endearment
Derived terms: alt: Cytleichus nudus
word: air-sac mite
word: a mite
taxonomic: Varroa destructor
word: bee mite
alt: Oribatoidea spp.
word: beetle mite
taxonomic: Ornithonyssus spp.
word: bird mite
taxonomic: Aceria essigi
word: blackberry mite
word: book mite
word: broad mite
taxonomic: Psoroptidae spp.
word: carpet mite
taxonomic: Cheyletiella blakei
word: cat fur mite
taxonomic: Tyrolichus casei
word: cheese mite
word: chicken mite
taxonomic: Bryobia praetiosa
word: clover mite
alt: Glycyphagus domesticus
word: common house mite
taxonomic: Cheyletiella yasguri
word: dog fur mite
taxonomic: Dermatophagoides spp.
word: dust mite
taxonomic: Otodectes cynotis
word: ear mite
word: eyelash mite
word: feather mite
taxonomic: Acarus siro
word: flour mite
word: follicle mite
alt: Carpoglyphus lactis et al.
word: fruit mite
alt: Glycyphagus domesticus
word: furniture mite
word: gall mite
taxonomic: Trombicula spp.
word: harvest mite
taxonomic: Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus
word: house dust mite
taxonomic: Liponyssoides sanguineus
word: house mouse mite
taxonomic: Sarcoptes scabiei
word: itch mite
word: midshipmite
word: mightsome
word: mite box
word: mite cheese
word: miteproof
word: mitey
word: miticide
word: miting
word: mity
word: moss mite
word: peacock mite
taxonomic: Carpoglyphus lactis
word: prune mite
word: quill mite
word: rabbit ear mite
taxonomic: Cheyletiella parasitovorax
word: rabbit fur mite
taxonomic: Dermanyssus gallinae
word: red mite
word: red velvet mite
word: rice sheath mite
word: rust mite
taxonomic: Tetranychidae spp.
word: spider mite
alt: Laelaps echidnina
word: spiny rat mite
english: Lepidoglyphus, Acarus, Tyrophagus, Tydeus, Cheyletus, Tarsonemus spp.
translation: Lepidoglyphus, Acarus, Tyrophagus, Tydeus, Cheyletus, Tarsonemus spp.
word: stock mite
taxonomic: Acarus siro
word: storage mite
taxonomic: Lepidoglyphus destructor
word: sugar mite
taxonomic: Trombiculidae spp.
word: trombiculid mite
taxonomic: Ornithonyssus bacoti
word: tropical rat mite
word: water mite
taxonomic: Acarus siro
word: wheat mite
word: widow's mite
word: Willamette mite
alt: Tetranycus willamette
word: Willamette spider mite
alt: Pterolichus obtusus
word: wing mite
alt: Oribatidae spp.
word: wood mite