minidisc

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Latin miniumder. Italian minio Proto-Italic *-āzi ▲ Latin -ereinflu. Latin -āre Italian -are Italian miniare Proto-Indo-European *-tew-? Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂? Latin -tūra Italian -tura Italian miniaturabor. English miniature English mini- Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos)der. Latin discusbor. French disquebor. English disc English MiniDisc From mini- + disc.

1. A magnetooptical format for storing digital audio.

   “This convinces me that MiniDisc is a format whose time has come and gone. When MiniDisc first came out, I was very excited at the existence of an erasable disc format for music.”

   “Or you could buy the FW538 system stack, which Philips sees as CD-RW's big weapon in its lone fight against the rising tide of MiniDisc, for £449.95.”

2. A disk that uses this format.

   “So the recording is real time: To get an hour of music on a MiniDisc, it'll take you an hour. If you go for the MiniDisc and Voquette MiniDisc NetLink solution, you'll probably want to build a collection of MiniDiscs rather than recording music to a MiniDisc temporarily, the way you download music to an ultraportable MP3 player.”

   “Jim Taylor (2000), DVD demystified, page 388: “Because MiniDiscs are in a shell, they can be handled easily without fear of fingerprints and scratches. MiniDiscs are about 3 inches across, making them very easy to use and to store.””

3. A MiniDisc player or recorder.

   “Jon Konrath (2003), Tell Me a Story about the Devil ― Selected Journals, 1997—1999, page 137: “It'll be nice to travel with a MiniDisc, too. A MiniDisc, a GameBoy, a camcorder, a cellphone—I think RoboCop hauled around less gear.””

   “Steve Shipside (2005), Win at the gym, page 28: “I have a MiniDisc which I rest on the treadmill/stepper but it still jogs – how do I stop it?””