Mite

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Mite \Mite\ (m[imac]t), n. [AS. m[imac]te mite (in sense 1);
     akin to LG. mite, D. mijt, G. miete, OHG. m[imac]za; cf.
     Goth. maitan to cut.]
     1. (Zool.) A minute arachnid, of the order {Acarina}, of
        which there are many species; as, the dust mite, cheese
        mite, sugar mite, harvest mite, three-toed spider mite,


        etc. See {Acarina}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. [D. mijt; prob. the same word.] A small coin formerly
        circulated in England, rated at about a third of a
        farthing. The name is also applied to a small coin used in
        Palestine in the time of Christ.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Two mites, which make a farthing.     --Mark xii.
                                                    49.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A small weight; one twentieth of a grain.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Anything very small; a minute object; a very little
        quantity or particle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              For in effect they be not worth a myte. --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  mite
       n 1: a slight but appreciable addition; "this dish could use a
            touch of garlic" [syn: {touch}, {hint}, {tinge}, {pinch},
             {jot}, {speck}, {soupcon}]
       2: any of numerous very small to minute arachnids often
          infesting animals or plants or stored foods

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  162 Moby Thesaurus words for "mite":
     ace, arachnid, arthropod, atom, bairn, bawbee, beetle, bit, bug,
     cat flea, caterpillar, centipede, cherub, chigoe, child, chilopod,
     chit, cockroach, crab, crown, crumb, dab, daddy longlegs, darling,
     diplopod, dog flea, dole, dollar, dot, dram, dribble, driblet,
     drop, droplet, dwarf, farthing, fiver, flea, fleck, florin, fly,
     flyspeck, fourpence, fourpenny, fragment, gnat, gobbet, grain,
     granule, grayback, groat, guinea, hair, half crown, half dollar,
     half rations, halfpenny, handful, harvestman, hexapod, innocent,
     insect, iota, jigger, jot, kid, kitten, lamb, lambkin, larva,
     little, little bit, little bugger, little fellow, little guy,
     little innocent, little one, little tad, little tot, lota, louse,
     mag, maggot, meg, mere subsistence, microbe, microorganism, midge,
     millepede, millipede, minim, minimum, minutia, minutiae, modicum,
     molecule, monkey, mote, new pence, nipper, nit, np, nutshell,
     nymph, offspring, ounce, p, parasite, particle, pebble, peewee,
     pence, penny, pinch, pinhead, pinpoint, pittance, point, pony,
     pound, quid, red bug, roach, sand flea, scorpion, scrap,
     scrimption, scruple, shaver, shilling, short allowance,
     short commons, sixpence, smidgen, smitch, snip, snippet, speck,
     spider, spoonful, spot, starvation wages, tad, tarantula, tenner,
     thimbleful, threepence, threepenny bit, thrippence, tick, tiny bit,
     tittle, tot, trifling amount, trivia, tuppence, twopence,
     vanishing point, vermin, wee tot, weevil, whit
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Mite
     contraction of minute, from the Latin minutum, the translation
     of the Greek word lepton, the very smallest bronze of copper
     coin (Luke 12:59; 21:2). Two mites made one quadrans, i.e., the
     fourth part of a Roman as, which was in value nearly a
     halfpenny. (See {FARTHING}.)