ˈmi-ni-ˌchu̇r
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How Miniature Came to Mean What It Does
The word miniature is about size, and specifically, small size. But its Latin ancestor concerned not size, but color.
In the era before the invention of the printing press, anything printed was printed by hand: someone pressed a pigmented point to a surface and left marks. People used black pigment mostly, but sometimes they used red, especially for titles, large initial letters, and decorative drawings. The Latin name for the red coloring—which was either cinnabar or red lead—was minium, and the corresponding verb meaning "to color with minium" was miniare.
In early Italian, the association of decorative drawings with miniare was so strong that the meaning of miniare was broadened until it simply meant "to decorate a manuscript." A noun form of the word, miniatura, was used to refer to the art of illuminating—that is, of adding illustrations to—a manuscript, regardless of the colors used. Since the illuminations in manuscripts (as the illustrations themselves are called) were small by comparison with most other paintings, miniatura came to refer not only to a manuscript illumination but to any small portrait or painting, and eventually to anything very small. English speakers had adopted the word as miniature by the 16th century.
Synonyms
Examples of miniature in a Sentence
Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 17 June 2024
His miniatures were essential for adding detail to the sets, plus the various external and establishing shots like the Nostromo gliding through space.
—Sezin Devi Koehler, EW.com, 25 May 2024
Zoey Lyttle, Peoplemag, 18 June 2024
Carpenter accessorized the lapel of her jacket with a jeweled brooch, completing her look with white pumps a matching miniature Louis Vuitton Speedy.
—Hannah Malach, WWD, 18 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for miniature 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'miniature.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near miniature
Cite this Entry
“Miniature.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miniature. Accessed 27 Jun. 2024.
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