Standard Lemma guide

miniseries

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: M IH1 N IH0 S EH2 R IY0 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: M IH1 N IY0 S EH2 R IY0 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A radio or television series with a small number of episodes not intended to last a complete season.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • My favorite miniseries of all time is the old BBC adaptation of "I, Claudius".

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A relatively short comic book series with a predetermined number of instalments.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Paleo-Hispanicbor. Latin Minius Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Italic *-om Latin -um Latin minium Italian minio Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Italian -are Italian miniare Proto-Indo-European *-tew-? Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh2? Latin -tūra Italian -tura Italian miniaturabor. English miniature English mini- Proto-Indo-European *ser-der. Proto-Italic *serō Latin serō Proto-Italic *-jēs Latin -iēs Latin seriēsbor. English series English miniseries From mini- + series.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: minisèrie — series with a small number of episodes
  • Chinese Mandarin: 迷你剧 (mínǐjù) — series with a small number of episodes
  • Finnish: minisarja — series with a small number of episodes
  • Hungarian: minisorozat — series with a small number of episodes
  • Italian: miniserie — series with a small number of episodes
  • Korean: 미니시리즈 (minisirijeu) — series with a small number of episodes
  • Polish: miniserial — series with a small number of episodes
  • Portuguese: minissérie — series with a small number of episodes
  • Spanish: miniserie — series with a small number of episodes
Real reading context

miniseries in complete knowledge articles