1802, "pertaining to coinage or currency;" 1860, "pertaining to money;" from Late Latin monetarius "pertaining to money," originally "of a mint," from Latin moneta "mint; coinage" (see money (n.)). Related: Monetarily.
1530s, "one who melts," especially "the official who superintends the melting of gold and silver for coin in a mint," agent noun from melt (v.). By 1883 as "a furnace, pot, or crucible used for melting."
perfume made from an odoriferous Indian plant of the mint family, 1845, from the native name of the plant in Madras, which is said to be from Tamil pachchai "green" + ilai "leaf." The form of the word appears French, but this has not been explained and the record of it in English predates that in French.
perennial herb of the mint family, formerly cultivated for medicinal purposes, 1520s, alteration by folk etymology of Anglo-French puliol real; for second element see royal; the first element ultimately is from Latin puleium "thyme," a word of unknown origin. Later also applied to an American plant.
plant of the mint family, late 14c., from Old French thym, tym (13c.) and directly from Latin thymum, from Greek thymon, which had been derived from PIE root *dheu- (1), base of words meaning "smoke," for its scent or from being burned as a sacrifice, but Beekes finds this "doubtful" and suggests that "As a local plant name, the word is liable to be of Pre-Greek origin." Related: Thymic.
1660s, from un- (1) "not" + conditional (adj.). Related: Unconditionally. Unconditional surrender in the military sense is attested from 1730; in U.S., often associated with Civil War Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the taking of Fort Donelson.
The ringing phrase of Grant's latest despatch circulated through the North like some coinage fresh from the mint, and "Unconditional Surrender," which suited the initials of his modest signature, became like a baptismal name. [James Schouler, "History of the United States of America," Dodd, Mead & Co., 1899].
"fragrant plant of the mint family," c. 1300, from Anglo-French lavendre, Old French lavendre "the lavender plant," from Medieval Latin lavendula "lavender" (10c.), perhaps from Latin lividus "bluish, livid" (see livid). If so, it probably was associated with French lavande, Italian lavanda "a washing" (from Latin lavare "to wash;" from PIE root *leue- "to wash") because it was used to scent washed fabrics and as a bath perfume.
The adjective meaning "of a pale purple color, of the color of lavender flowers" is from 1840; as a noun in the color sense from 1882. An identical Middle English word meant "laundress, washerwoman;" also, apparently, "prostitute, whore; camp follower" and is attested as a surname from early 13c.
also horse-radish, 1590s, Cochlearia armoricia; the common name preserves the once-common figurative adjectival sense of horse as "strong, large, coarse," as in in obsolete horse mushroom (1866), horse-balm (1808), horse parsley, horse-mussel, Old English horsminte "horse mint." The "London Encyclopaedia" (1829) has horse emmet for a large kind of ant and horse marten "a kind of large bee." Also see radish.
Some nations have used the word bull as an augmentative; the English use the word horse, this being no doubt the largest animal of their acquaintance before the southern breeds of oxen were introduced.
[The Annual Review, London, 1804]
