meinie

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English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English meine, meyne, from Anglo-Norman maigne and Old French mesnie (household), from Vulgar Latin *mānsiōnāta, from Latin mānsiō, mānsiōnem (house). Compare menial.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmeɪni/
  • (file)

Noun[edit]

meinie (plural meinies)

  1. (now rare, Scotland, Ireland) A household, or family.
    • 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum lxiv”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book X, [London: [] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur [], London: David Nutt, [], 1889, →OCLC, page 525:
      And whanne they in the caſtel wyſte hou ſire Palomydes had ſped there was a Ioyeful meyny / and ſoo ſir Palomydes departed / and came to the caſtell of Lonaȝep
      "And when they in the castle wist how Sir Palomides had sped, there was a joyful meiny; and so Sir Palomides departed, and came to the castle of Lonazep."
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. (archaic or historical) A retinue.
    • 1880, Richard Francis Burton, Os Lusíadas, volume I, page 23:
      His speech thus spake the Moor, and took his leave,
      he and his meiny where the bátels lay:
      formal farewells to chief and crews he gave,
      exchanging congees with due courtesy.
    • 1965, Jack Robert Lander, The Wars of the Roses:
      And in the evening they went with their simple captain to his lodging; but a certain of his simple and rude meinie abode there all the night [...].
  3. (now Scotland) A crowd of people; a rabble.