The word mincha is used in mandane and secular contexts of gifts or tributes given to someone in homage and acknowledgement of his superiority. When Jacob returned from Paddan Aram and knowing he would meet Esau the next day, he prepared such a gift for him, to allay any residual anger his older brother may still harbour against him (Gen 32:14, 19). When Saul was anointed king by Samuel, not everyone approved and those among them who despised him brought him no mincha, a token of their rejection (1 Sam 10:27). When David brought the Moabites and Syrians into submission they brought him mincha (2 Sam 8:2, 6).
Used in a religious sense, the mincha is defined by the instructions of Lev 2, and referred to an offering of fine grain flour baked in an oven, sometimes with oil or honey but always without yeast.