miniature
/ˈmɪn.(i)ə.tʃəɹ/noun, adjective, verb
miniature is spelled M-I-N-I-A-T-U-R-E. The wrong spelling people search most is minature: about 240 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Miniature is a noun meaning “Greatly diminished size or form; reduced scale”. The plural of miniature is miniatures.
How many letters and syllables are in miniature?
| Letters | 9: M-I-N-I-A-T-U-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.2 times per million words; the 10,843rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, minature, about 240 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell miniature?
Miniature is spelled M-I-N-I-A-T-U-R-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for miniature in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is miniature?
Miniature appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce miniature?
- UK /ˈmɪn.ɪ.tʃə/
- US /ˈmɪn.(i)ə.tʃəɹ/
- US /ˈmɪn.(i)ə.tʃʊɹ/
Miniature has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-miniature.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of miniature
- miniatures plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- more miniature comparative
- most miniature superlative
- miniaturing participle, present
- miniatured participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does miniature mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Greatly diminished size or form; reduced scale.
- 2
A small version of something; a model of reduced scale.
There was a miniature of a whaling ship in a glass bottle over the mantelpiece.
- 3
A small, highly detailed painting, a portrait miniature.
- 4
The art of painting such highly detailed miniature works.
- 5
An illustration in an illuminated manuscript.
- 6
A musical composition which is short in duration.
Sacha composed a miniature for strings as a final project at the conservatory.
- 7
A chess game which is concluded with very few moves.
- 8
A token in a game representing a unit or character.
Jack had dozens of miniatures of Napoleonic footsoldiers painted in detailed period regalia for his wargames.
adjective
- 1
Smaller than normal.
I find miniature dogs annoying; they seem to yap more than full-size dogs.
verb
- 1
To make smaller than normal; to reproduce in miniature.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate miniature?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of miniature: mini.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Miniature in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | miniature , enluminure , figurine |
| German | Miniatur , mittelalterliche Buchmalerei, mittelalterliche Handschriftenillustration |
| Portuguese | miniatura |
| Spanish | miniatura |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.