mite Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a slight but appreciable amount
jot; speck; hint; pinch; soupcon; touch; tinge.
- this dish could use a touch of garlic
noun any of numerous very small to minute arachnids often infesting animals or plants or stored foods

AS. mite mite (in sense 1); akin to LG. mite, D. mijt, G. miete, OHG. miza; cf. Goth. maitan to cut.

(Zoöl.) A minute arachnid, of the order Acarina, of which there are many species; as, the cheese mite, sugar mite, harvest mite, etc. See Acarina.
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.
Two mites, which make a farthing. Mark xii. 49.
A small weight; one twentieth of a grain.
Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle.
For in effect they be not worth a myte. Chaucer.