minx

Etymology 1

PIE word *ǵʰmṓ The origin of the noun is uncertain. The following possible derivations have been suggested: * A variation of minikin (“(obsolete) young person, especially a young woman; small or insignificant person, thing, or amount”) + a variation of -s (suffix forming hypocoristic nouns (nicknames)) (compare minckins, a variant of minikin). * From Dutch mens, mensch (“human being, person; (derogatory, informal) woman”) (obsolete), Middle Dutch minsc, minsce, minsch; or from German Low German minsch, minsk, Middle Low German minsche (“hussy, wench”), all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz (“human”, adjective), from *mann- (“human being, person; man”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ (“earthling”), *men- (“to mind; to think; spiritual activity”), or *mon- (“human being; man”)) + *-iskaz (suffix meaning ‘characteristic of, pertaining to’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from the noun.

noun

1. A flirtatious, impudent, or pert young woman.
   Miſs Herbert. So good, Mr. gallant, gay Lothario of ſixty-five, a good morning to you. [Exit. Miſs Herbert. / Old Manly. A ſaucy minx.] 1792, Joseph Richardson, The Fugitive: A Comedy.[…], London: […] [John] Debrett,[…], →OCLC, act IV, scene ii, page 56
   Others were pert little minxes, and were amusingly condescending to their friends and relatives; but when it came to the feast all the innocent little airs and graces were left aside, and the saucy tapo enjoyed her pig and yams as naturally as the hungriest boy there. 1895, Marie Fraser, “Tapos and Other ‘Fafines’”, in In Stevenson’s Samoa, London: Smith, Elder, & Co.,[…], →OCLC, page 111
   Single, and generally on the make, she was alternatively an angel, a devil and a minx. 1988, Barbara Delinsky, Commitments, New York, N.Y., Boston, Mass.: Grand Central Publishing, published October 2012, page 69
   As women glide from their twenties to thirties, Shazzer argues, the balance of power subtly shifts. Even the most outrageous minxes lose their nerve, wrestling with the first twinges of existential angst: fears of dying alone and being found three weeks later half-eaten by an Alsatian. 1996, Helen Fielding, “Wednesday, 4 January”, in Bridget Jones’s Diary, London: Penguin Books, published 1999 (2010 printing)
   We're quite a powerful group, us wrinkly teenagers, us pre-menopausal minxes. 1999, Meera Syal, Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee, Black Swan edition, London: Transworld Publishers, published 2015, page 242
   Both girls [in Joseph Haydn's Le pescatrici] reveal themselves as minxes. 2009, Richard Wigmore, “Operas and Dramatic Music”, in The Faber Pocket Guide to Haydn, London: Faber and Faber, page 307
2. (derogatory, dated) A promiscuous woman; also, a mistress (“the other woman in an extramarital relationship”) or a prostitute.
   He to his ardent love ſhall win the fair, / From beauty's queen, to her who ſcrubs the ſtair, / From the Kept-miſtreſs, or the Counteſs vain, / Down to the tawdry Minx in Drury Lane. 1760, J. Copywell [pseudonym; William Woty], “Money. A Fragment of an Intended Parody.”, in The Shrubs of Parnassus. Consisting of a Variety of Poetical Essays, Moral and Comic, London: […] J[ohn] Newbery,[…], →OCLC, page 142
   For my part, if I understand these sphinxes, / These living riddles called Olympian Gods, / I think they are in love with mortal minxes; / (It would not be the only time by odds;) […] 1864, England’s Bards, 1864; or, The Three Poems which were Awarded the One Hundred Guineas Offered as Prizes in the Advertisement “Ho! For a Shakespeare!” which Appeared about the Time of Shakespeare’s Tercentenary Anniversary, London: Day and Son,[…], →OCLC, section I (Pallas Athené and Venus at Breakfast with Juno, in One of Her Apartments), page 12
   Tragically forgot to take drying washing down off rack over Aga and a pair of my very large knickers was perilously close to brushing the top of his hair as he came in. […] I quickly swapped them with a pair of ELDEST's teeny-weeny ones, so he thinks he might be marrying into a family of sex minxes who stay that way well into middle age. 2009, Judith Holder, “January”, in The Secret Diary of a Grumpy Old Woman: AKA A Year in Big Knickers, London: Hachette UK, published 2011
3. (obsolete) A pet dog.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) Used transitively when followed by it: to behave like a minx, that is, in a flirtatious and impudent manner.
   [He] knows the dress of every girl he meets— / In fact could cut you out the very plan, / Each article could name, and tell you every shade, / Whether adorning minxing miss or ancient maid! 1861, [Dr. Milligan], “Flight the Fifth”, in Baal: Or, Sketches of Social Evils. A Poem, in Ten Flights, London: William Freeman,[…], →OCLC, page 102
   Alison might have, if she hadn't minxed herself out of a job. 2001 July, Alan Bissett, Damage Land: New Scottish Gothic Fiction, Edinburgh: Polygon, page 60
   She grabbed desperately at the pistol, singeing hot, and she and Ginny fell to the floor, Marion on top and looking down at twisty little Ginny, that minxing blond thrush, now beneath her, churning under her and spitting and hacking and cursing Marion and cursing her so. 2009, Megan Abbott, Bury Me Deep, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, page 121
   It's just a late date. It's like I'm Carrie Bradshaw, minxing it around Manhattan. 2010, Eleanor Moran, Mr Almost Right, London: Penguin Books
   Moonface minxed and flashed her red nails like a dancer, chameleon that she was. 2013, Norm Sibum, “Book III—In Continuation, a Proper Narrative”, in Dan Wells, editor, The Traymore Rooms: A Novel in Five Parts: Quebec, America and Rome, Windsor, Ont.: Biblioasis, part 2 (Echo’s Gone), page 261
   Sadly, I was the one minxing around, so I was inevitably going to meet a horrible death. 2014, Kelly Brook, Close Up: The Autobiography, London: Sidgwick & Jackson
2. (transitive) To make (someone) like a minx; (intransitive) to become like a minx.
   Whether you're sipping fine bubbly from a crystal flute while having your nails minxed, or soaking in a heavenly milk bath, a visit to Miss Fox is your ticket to forget your worries and simply indulge. 2012, Hide & Seek Melbourne 2, Prahran, Vic.: Explore Australia Publishing

Etymology 2

A variant of mink.

noun

1. obsolete spelling of mink (“any of various semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals in the Mustelinae subfamily”).
   The Minx […] frequents the water like the Otter, and very much reſembles it in ſhape and color, but is leſs; will abide longer under the water than the muſk quaſh, muſk rat, or little beaver: […] 1771, Thomas Pennant, quoting John Bartram, “Otter”, in Synopsis of Quadrupeds, Chester, Cheshire: […] J. Monk, →OCLC, page 240
   2d. Carnivora, or flesh eaters. Of these we have […] the New York ermine, or ermine weasel; the mink, or minx otter; the common otter; […] 1847, J. H. Mather, L. P. Brockett, “Zoology. [Class I. Mammalia.]”, in Geography of the State of New York.[…], Hartford, Conn.: J. H. Mather & Co. [et al.], →OCLC, page 39
   We next come to the mink or minx otter (Putorius Vison) which is the only animal of the genus mustela inhabiting the northern parts of America that can be said to live in the water, and the name of "fisher" could with much justice be transferred from its present bearer to the mink. [1876], Charles Henry Eden, chapter VII, in The Home of the Wolverene and Beaver; or, Fur-hunting in the Wilds of Canada, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; New York, N.Y.: Pott, Young & Co., →OCLC, page 153
   There is, however, scarcely any distinction in the other portions of the dress of the sexes [of southeastern Alaskan natives], except that the skin coats or tunics of the women and the facings of the bonnet or hood (worn by both sexes) are more elaborately decorated with minx, otter, or seal fur about the throat, and down the front, than those of the men. 1893 March, John H. Keatley, “Under the Arctic Circle”, in B[enjamin] O[range] Flower, editor, The Arena, volume VII, number XL, Boston, Mass.: Arena Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 491