Middle English Dictionary Entry
meneu n.
Entry Info
| Forms | meneu n. Also menei, menoue, menaue. |
| Etymology | ?OE *mynwe, cp. OE myne & OHG munewa; sense perhaps influenced by OF menu adj. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. menuse.
1.
A small fish; the minnow (Leuciscus phoxinus); the stickleback (?Gasterosteus aculeatus).
Associated quotations
- a1425 *Medulla (Stnh A.1.10)2b/b : Afforus: a menew.
- c1450 Treat.Fish.(Yale 171)159/8 : With a meney for the troute with-owte plumbe or floote.
- c1450 Treat.Fish.(Yale 171)173/4 : Ye schall angle to hym marche, with a menew hangud by ȝowr hoke.
- a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sln 1986)p.54 : And smalle fysshe þou take Þerwith, als trouȝte, sperlynges, and menwus withal.
- 1483 Cath.Angl.(Monson 168)234 : A Menowe.
- a1500 Mayer Nominale (Mayer)704/44 : Hic solimicus: a menawe.