mince
UK: mɪns | US: mɪns
vt. to cut or chop food (especially meat) into very small pieces
vt. to speak or express something in a hesitant or overly delicate way
n. finely chopped food, especially meat
The word "mince" traces back to the Latin minuere ("to lessen"), which evolved into Old French mincier ("to cut into small pieces"). The English adaptation retained the core idea of reducing size, both literally (chopping food) and figuratively (softening speech). The suffix "-ce" marks it as a verb, reinforcing the action of making something small.
She minced the garlic finely for the sauce.
He tends to mince his words when delivering bad news.
The recipe calls for minced beef.
Don’t mince matters—tell me the truth directly.
The chef demonstrated how to mince herbs quickly.