miniature

Minium was the Latin name for a red pigment used in ancient times. In the days before printed books, this substance was used to decorate manuscripts. The Latin verb meaning to color with minium was miniare. In early Italian, its meaning was broadened to the point where it simply meant “to decorate a manuscript,” and the noun miniatura was used to refer to any manuscript illustration, no matter what color. Since the illustrations in manuscripts (called illuminations) are small by comparison with most other paintings, the word miniature, borrowed into English from Italian miniature, came to mean any small painting, and eventually anything very small.