A miniature is a very small version of something, such as a model car or a tiny painting. The word can also be an adjective describing anything that is much smaller than usual.
From Italian ‘miniatura,’ meaning ‘illumination of a manuscript,’ from Latin ‘miniare’ (to color with red lead). Over time, because these decorations were small and detailed, the word shifted to mean anything very small.
Miniatures got their name from tiny red decorations in medieval books, not from being ‘mini’ in size. The art was small and precious, and that feeling stuck to the word even as we started using it for toy trains and model cities.
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