LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

mīca

mīca f (genitive mīcae)
Classical[ˈmiː.ka]Ecclesiastical[ˈmiː.ka]

Meaning

  1. a grain (esp. a glittering one: of salt, marble, etc.), crumb
    Tōtum illud 'fōrmōsa' negō: nam nūlla venustās,I object to calling her altogether "beautiful." For there is no charm, Not one grain of salt in such a tall body.c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 86
  2. Medieval Latina miche (a round loaf of brown bread)
  3. New Latinmica

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativemīcamīcae
genitivemīcaemīcārum
dativemīcaemīcīs
accusativemīcammīcās
ablativemīcāmīcīs
vocativemīcamīcae

mīca, ae, f. root smic-; Gr. σμικρός, μικρός; cf. micula; O. Germ. smahan, to belittle,
I. a crumb, little bit, morsel, grain (poet. and in post-Aug. prose).
I. Lit.: mica panis, Petr. 42: auri, Lucr. 1, 839: marmoris, Plin. 33, 4, 21, § 68: salis, a grain of salt, id. 22, 14, 16, § 37: amomi, id. 12, 18, 41, § 83: saliens (i. e. salis) mica, Hor. C. 3, 23, 12: tus in micas friatur, Plin. 12, 14, 32, § 65: de micis puerorum, Vulg. Marc. 7, 28.—
II. Transf.
A. A small diningroom, Mart. 2, 59, 1; Sen. Ep. 51, 12.—
B. In gen., a little bit, a grain: nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis, a grain of sense, Cat. 86, 3.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)meyk-
  2. Proto-Italic*(s)mīkā?
  3. Proto-Indo-European*meyk-
  4. Proto-Italic*meikā?
  5. Latinmīca

Uncertain: * traditionally derived from Proto-Italic *(s)mīkā, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meyk- (“small, thin, delicate”), related to Ancient Greek (σ)μῑκρός ((s)mīkrós) – details there. * in view of meaning (1), De Vaan (2008) with Nyman (1987) prefer Proto-Italic *meikā (“a glittering particle”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyk- (“to blink”), whence also micō. Attested from Cato onwards. A number of Romance forms, e.g. Romanian mic, Neapolitan miccu, Calabrian/Sicilian miccu, reflect an unattested adjective *mīccus. This is probably unrelated, being a borrowing from Ancient Greek μῑκκός (mīkkós), variant of μῑκρός (mīkrós, “small”); the form *mīcca is associated with the meaning “loaf of bread” particularly in Gallo-Romance and Gallo-Italic.

Elsewhere
  • Englishmica
  • Frenchmica
  • Italianmica
  • Portuguesemica
  • Spanishmica
  • Aragonesemica
  • Dutchmica
  • Galicianmica
  • Alemannic GermanMiigge
  • Dutchmik
Italo-Romance
  • Italianmica
  • Italianframmica
  • Italianmicca
  • Italiannemica
  • Corsicanmicca
  • Old Venetannemiga
Gallo-Romance
  • Frenchmiefrom Old French mie
  • Frenchmichefrom Old French miche
  • Portuguesemichafrom Old French miche
  • Basquemitsikafrom Old French miche
  • Bretonméchenfrom Old French miche
Balkano-Romance
  • Romanianmică
  • Romaniannimic
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesemigafrom Old Galician-Portuguese miga
  • Spanishmigafrom Old Spanish miga
  • Galicianmigafrom Old Galician-Portuguese miga
  • Aragonesemica
Southern Gallo-Romance
  • Catalanmica
  • Occitanmica
Gallo-Italic
  • Ligurianmicca
  • Piedmontesemica
Rhaeto-Romance
  • Romanshnimia

Quick answers

What does mīca mean in Latin?
mīca, a noun, means “a grain (esp. a glittering one: of salt, marble, etc.), crumb; a miche (a round loaf of brown bread); mica”.
What is the genitive of mīca?
The genitive singular is mīcae. mīca is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce mīca?
In classical Latin, [ˈmiː.ka]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈmiː.ka].
Where does mīca come from?
Proto-Indo-European *(s)meyk- → Proto-Italic *(s)mīkā? → Proto-Indo-European *meyk- → Proto-Italic *meikā? → Latin mīca.