mince / mins/ • v. [tr.] 1. [often as adj.] (minced) cut up or grind (food, esp. meat) into very small pieces, typically in a machine with revolving blades: minced beef.2. [intr.] walk with an affected delicacy or fastidiousness, typically with short quick steps: there were plenty of secretaries mincing about.• n. something minced, esp. mincemeat: put the mince on a dish. ∎  a quantity of something minced: a mince of garlic.PHRASES: not mince words (or one's words) speak candidly and directly, esp. when criticizing someone or something: a gruff surgeon who does not mince words.DERIVATIVES: minc·er n.minc·ing·ly adv. (in sense 2).

mince cut up small XIV; † minimize, disparage; extenuate, moderate; talk, walk, etc., affectedly XVI. — OF. mincier :- Rom. *minūtiāre, f. L. minūtia see MINUTIA.
Hence sb. minced meat. XIX. Mincemeat, mince-pie (both XVII) are for minced meat, minced pie.

mince
1. To chop or cut into small pieces with a knife or, more commonly, in a mincing machine or electric grinder.

2. Meat which is finely divided by chopping or passing through a mincing machine; known as ground meat in the USA.