- mite (1)
- "tiny animal," O.E. mite, from P.Gmc. *miton (cf. M.Du. mite, O.H.G. miza, Dan. mide) originally meaning perhaps "the cutter" (from P.Gmc. *mait-, cf. Goth. maitan, O.H.G. meizen "to cut") in reference to its bite. More likely etymology is that its original sense is "something small" (from PIE *mei- "small") in reference to size.
- mite (2)
- "little bit," c.1350, from M.Du. or M.L.G. mite "tiny animal," also the name of a medieval Flemish copper coin of very small value, used proverbially in Eng. for "a very small unit of money," hence used since Wyclif to translate L. minutum from Vulgate in Mark xii.43, itself a translation of Gk. lepton. From P.Gmc. *miton-, which probably is the source of mite (1).