or minnikon, subs. (old).—See quots. Also as adj. = diminutive; dainty; delicate.
1598. FLORIO, A Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Mingherlina, a daintie lasse, a MINNIKIN, smirking wench.
1605. SHAKESPEARE, King Lear, iii. 6, 45.
| Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd? | |
| Thy sheep be in the corn; | |
| And for one blast of thy MINIKIN mouth, | |
| Thy sheep shall take no harm. |
1606. DEKKER, Newes from Hell [GROSART (1886), ii. 146]. Tickle the next MINKIN.
1611. COTGRAVE, Dictionarie, s.v. Mignonnet. A prettie, or young minion; a MINIKIN.
1635. GLAPTHORNE, The Hollander, ii. 1. Surely the MINIKIN is enamoured on me.
1656. The Muses Recreation [HOTTEN], 71.
| I should begin to call my strings | |
| My catlings, and my MINIKINS. |
1667. PEPYS, Diary, 18 March. Angling with a MINNIKIN, a gut string varnished over, which keeps it from swelling, and is beyond any hair for strength or smallness.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. MINIKIN, a little man or woman; also the smallest sort of pin.
1823. BADCOCK (‘Jon Bee’), Dictionary of the Turf, etc., s.v. MINIKIN … ‘What a MINIKIN mouth she has.’
1859. G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v., MINNIKON.
