mica

Borrowed from Latin mīca (“grain, crumb”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪ.kə/, enPR: mīkə
• Rhymes: -aɪkə

mica (countable and uncountable, plural micas)

2. (mineralogy) Any of a group of hydrous aluminosilicate minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic.
   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 214:

     His little eyes glittered like mica discs with curiosity, though he tried to keep up a bit of superciliousness.

• biotite
• lepidolite
• muscovite
• paragonite
• phlogopite

• mica on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• CIMA, CMIA, aMCI, -amic, Cima, ACMI, cami, cima, amic, Maci, iMac, -icam

• IPA^(key): /ˈmika/
• Syllabification: mi‧ca
• Rhymes: -ika

Vulgar Latin *mīcca, from Latin mīca (“crumb”) with expression gemination of /k/. Compare Occitan mica and Catalan mica.

mica f

1. a bit, a small piece

mica

1. a bit, few
2. (in negative phrases) at all

   No me fa mica goi. ― I don't like it at all.

3. any

   No gastes mica d’aceite ― Don't use any oil

   No queda mica de sal. ― There isn't any salt left.

Borrowed from Latin mīca.

mica f

1. (mineralogy) mica

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈmi.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈmi.ka]

Inherited from Old Catalan mica, from Vulgar Latin *mīcca, from Latin mīca (“crumb”) with expression gemination of /k/. Compare Occitan mica and Aragonese mica.

mica f (plural miques)

1. a bit, a small piece

• de mica en mica
• miqueta
• una mica
• una mica de

Borrowed from Latin mīca.

mica f (plural miques)

1. (mineralogy) mica

• “mica”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “mica”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “mica” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “mica” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Latin mīca.

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: mi‧ca

mica n (plural mica's)

1. (mineralogy) mica

Borrowed from Latin mīca. Doublet of mie and miche.

• Audio:

  (file)

mica f (plural micas)

1. (mineralogy) mica

• “mica”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Learned borrowing from Latin mīca.

mica f (uncountable)

1. (mineralogy) mica

• IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ka/
• Rhymes: -ika
• Hyphenation: mì‧ca

From Latin mīca, from Proto-Italic *smīkā, from Proto-Indo-European *smeyg- (“small, thin, delicate”).

mica f (plural miche)

1. (archaic or literary) breadcrumb
2. (by extension) bit, morsel

   Synonym: minuzzolo

• micella

mica

1. (colloquial) not

   Mica male! ― Not bad!

2. (colloquial) hardly, you know

   Mica sono stupido

   I’m hardly stupid; I’m not stupid, you know

3. (colloquial) bit

   Non è mica cambiato ― It hasn't changed one bit

4. (colloquial) at all

   Non costa mica molto ― It is not at all expensive

5. (colloquial) by any chance

   Non hai mica trovato il mio portafoglio?

   Have you seen my wallet by any chance?

Borrowed from Latin mīca, the same source as the above.

mica f (plural miche)

1. (mineralogy) mica (mineral)

• cami, cima

• micca (attested in 1485, Du Cange)

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.^[1]

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmiː.ka]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmiː.ka]

mīca f (genitive mīcae); first declension

1. a grain (esp. a glittering one: of salt, marble, etc.), crumb
   • c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 86:

     Totum illud 'formosa' nego: nam nulla venustas,
     Nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis.

     I deny all of this so-called "beauty." For there is no charm,
     No grain of salt in such a big body.

2. (Medieval Latin, Gallia) a miche (a round loaf of brown bread)
3. (New Latin, mineralogy) mica

First-declension noun.

• mīcārius
• mīcidus
• mīcīna
• mīcula
• mīcō

• “mīca” in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL Open Access), Berlin (formerly Leipzig): De Gruyter (formerly Teubner), 1900–present
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “mīca”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 378

• “mica”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mica”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "mica", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• mica in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

• Hyphenation: mi‧ca

Borrowed from Latin mīca. Doublet of miga.

mica f (plural micas)

1. (mineralogy) mica (hydrous aluminosilicate mineral)

   Synonym: (Brazil) malacacheta

2. (Portugal) sheet protector (clear plastic sleeve for documents)
3. (electronics) mica insulator
   1. (by extension) any such insulator

      mica de silicone

      silicone insulator

4. a little bit, crum
5. (Portugal, regional) goat

• micela
• miga
• migalha

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

mica

1. inflection of micar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “mica”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
• “mica”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “mica”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “mica” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

• IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ka/
• Rhymes: -ikɐ

mica

1. definite nominative/accusative feminine singular of mic (“small”)

mica

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of mică (“mica”)

Borrowed from Latin mīca. Compare the inherited doublet miga.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmika/ [ˈmi.ka]
• Rhymes: -ika
• Syllabification: mi‧ca

mica f (plural micas)

1. (mineralogy) mica
2. (playground games, uncountable, El Salvador) tag, it (children's chasing game)

• micáceo
• miga, migaja

• “mica”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “mica”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• ¿Recuerdas cómo te divertías de pequeño? Estos son los juegos más tradicionales en El Salvador – Diario El Salvador
• Los juegos tradicionales de El Salvador de nuestra infancia | Guanacos