minaudière

or min·au·diere

[ mee-noh-dyair; French mee-noh-dyer ]

noun

, plural min·au·dieres [mee-noh-, dyairz, mee-noh-, dyer].

1. a small, sometimes jeweled case for a woman's cosmetics or other personal objects, often carried as a handbag.

Word History and Origins

Origin of minaudière¹

First recorded in 1935–40 (earlier in sense “coquette”); from French minaudière originally, “coquette, person with affected manners,” noun use of feminine of minaudier “affected,” equivalent to minaud(er) “to have an affected manner” (verbal derivative, with -aud adjective suffix, of mine “facial expression,” probably from Breton min “muzzle”) + -ier; ribald, -ier ²