mines
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
A mine is a large system of underground tunnels where people take out coal, metal, or minerals. A quarry is an open pit on the surface where workers cut or blast out stone, sand, or gravel — nobody goes underground in a quarry. A pit is a simpler, more general word for any large hole in the ground; a gravel pit may be only a few metres deep, while a mine can go hundreds of metres down. Excavation is the most formal of the four and often refers to the action of digging rather than the place itself — archaeologists carry out an excavation, but miners work in a mine. Example contrast: 'The marble quarry glowed white under the sun' (open-air, stone) versus 'The coal mine stayed dark even at noon' (underground, mineral).
Common collocations
Prepositions
- mine for
Etymology
The noun and verb 'mine' come from Old French 'mine' (ore, mineral vein), which probably traces back to a Celtic word. The explosive sense developed in the 1500s from the military practice of digging tunnels under enemy fortifications and packing them with gunpowder — the bomb took the name of the tunnel. The modern computing senses (data mining, crypto mining) are metaphors that compare searching through data to digging for valuable minerals. The pronoun 'mine' has a separate origin: it comes from Old English 'mīn', the possessive form of 'ic' (I), and is related to German 'mein'.
First known use
14th century
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a Verb