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Webster 1913 Edition


Minute

Min′ute

(?; 277)
,
Noun.
[LL.
minuta
a small portion, small coin, fr. L.
minutus
small: cf. F.
minute
. See 4th
Minute
.]
1.
The sixtieth part of an hour; sixty seconds. (Abbrev.
m.
or
min.
;
as, 4 h. 30
m.
)
Four
minutes
, that is to say,
minutes
of an hour.
Chaucer.
2.
The sixtieth part of a degree; sixty seconds (Marked thus (´);
as, 10° 20´
).
3.
A nautical or a geographic mile.
4.
A coin; a half farthing.
[Obs.]
Wyclif (Mark xii. 42)
5.
A very small part of anything, or anything very small; a jot; a tittle.
[Obs.]
Minutes
and circumstances of his passion.
Jer. Taylor.
6.
A point of time; a moment.
I go this
minute
to attend the king.
Dryden.
7.
pl.
The memorandum; a record; a note to preserve the memory of anything;
as, to take
minutes
of a contract; to take
minutes
of a conversation or debate; to read the
minutes
of the last meeting.
8.
(Arch.)
A fixed part of a module. See
Module
.
☞ Different writers take as the minute one twelfth, one eighteenth, one thirtieth, or one sixtieth part of the module.

Min′ute

,
Adj.
Of or pertaining to a minute or minutes; occurring at or marking successive minutes.
Minute bell
,
a bell tolled at intervals of a minute, as to give notice of a death or a funeral.
Minute book
,
a book in which written minutes are entered.
Minute glass
,
a glass measuring a minute or minutes by the running of sand.
Minute gun
,
a discharge of a cannon repeated every minute as a sign of distress or mourning.
Minute hand
,
the long hand of a watch or clock, which makes the circuit of the dial in an hour, and marks the minutes.

Min′ute

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp.
&
p.
p.
Minuted
;
p.
pr.
&
vb.
Noun.
Minuting
.]
To set down a short sketch or note of; to jot down; to make a minute or a brief summary of.
The Empress of Russia, with her own hand,
minuted
an edict for universal tolerance.
Bancroft.

Mi-nute′

(mī-nūt′ or mĭ-nūt′)
,
Adj.
[L.
minutus
, p. p. of
minuere
to lessen. See
Minish
,
Minor
, and cf.
Menu
,
Minuet
.]
1.
Very small; little; tiny; fine; slight; slender; inconsiderable;
as,
minute
details
.
Minute drops.”
Milton.
2.
Attentive to small things; paying attention to details; critical; particular; precise;
as, a
minute
observer;
minute
observation.
Syn. – Little; diminutive; fine; critical; exact; circumstantial; particular; detailed.
Minute
,
Circumstantial
,
Particular
. A circumstantial account embraces all the leading events; a particular account includes each event and movement, though of but little importance; a minute account goes further still, and omits nothing as to person, time, place, adjuncts, etc.

Webster 1828 Edition


Minute

MINU'TE

,
Adj.
[L. minutus.]
1.
Very small,little or slender; of very small bulk or size; small in consequence; as a minute grain of sand; a minute filament. The blood circulates through very minute vessels. Minute divisions of a subject often perplex the understanding. Minute details are tedious.
2.
Attending to small things; critical; as minute observation.

Definition 2024


Minute

Minute

German

Alternative forms

  • Minut n (obsolete)
  • Minut f

Noun

Minute f (genitive Minute, plural Minuten)

  1. minute (unit of time; unit of angle)
    • 1742. Adam Adolph Schöpfflein: Specimen trigonometriae ad fortificatoriam applicatae, oder trigonometrische Berechnung aller Linien und Winckel, p.8:
      Jeder Grad oder 360ste Theil des Circkels wird ferner vertheilt in 60. andere Theil, und heissen Minuten, ein jedes Minut wieder in 60. Theil oder Secunda, ein jedes Secund weiter in 60. Theil oder 3tia [i.e. tertia] rc.

Declension

Derived terms

minute

minute

English

Pronunciation

  • enPR: mĭn'ĭt, IPA(key): /ˈmɪnɪt/
  • Rhymes: -ɪnɪt

Noun

minute (plural minutes)

  1. A unit of time equal to sixty seconds (one-sixtieth of an hour).
    You have twenty minutes to complete the test.
  2. A short but unspecified time period.
    Wait a minute, I’m not ready yet!
  3. A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a degree.
    We need to be sure these maps are accurate to within one minute of arc.
  4. (in the plural, minutes) A (usually formal) written record of a meeting.
    Let’s look at the minutes of last week’s meeting.
  5. A unit of purchase on a telephone or other network, especially a cell phone network, roughly equivalent in gross form to sixty seconds' use of the network.
    If you buy this phone, you’ll get 100 free minutes.
  6. A point in time; a moment.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Dryden, (Please provide the title of the work):
      I go this minute to attend the king.
  7. A nautical or a geographic mile.
  8. An old coin, a half farthing.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Wyclif (Mark xii. 42) to this entry?)
  9. (obsolete) A very small part of anything, or anything very small; a jot; a whit.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Jeremy Taylor, (Please provide the title of the work):
      minutes and circumstances of his passion
  10. (architecture) A fixed part of a module.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Synonyms

Verb

minute (third-person singular simple present minutes, present participle minuting, simple past and past participle minuted)

  1. (transitive) Of an event, to write in a memo or the minutes of a meeting.
    I’ll minute this evening’s meeting.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Charles Dickens, (Please provide the title of the work):
      I dare say there was a vast amount of minuting, memoranduming, and dispatch-boxing, on this mighty subject.
    • 1995, Edmund Dell, The Schuman Plan and the British Abdication of Leadership in Europe:
      On 17 November 1949 Jay minuted Cripps, arguing that trade liberalization on inessentials was socially regressive.
    • 1996, Peter Hinchliffe, The Other Battle:
      The Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command, Sir Richard Peirse, was sceptical of its findings, minuting, ‘I don’t think at this rate we could have hoped to produce the damage which is known to have been achieved.’
    • 2003, David Roberts, Four Against the Arctic:
      Mr. Klingstadt, chief Auditor of the Admiralty of that city, sent for and examined them very particularly concerning the events which had befallen them; minuting down their answers in writing, with an intention of publishing himself an account of their extraordinary adventures.
  2. To set down a short sketch or note of; to jot down; to make a minute or a brief summary of.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Bancroft, (Please provide the title of the work):
      The Empress of Russia, with her own hand, minuted an edict for universal tolerance.
Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowing from Latin minūtus (small", "petty), perfect passive participle of minuō (make smaller).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: mīnyo͞ot', IPA(key): /maɪˈnjuːt/
  • (US) enPR: mīn(y)o͞ot', mən(y)o͞ot', IPA(key): /maɪˈn(j)ut/, /məˈn(j)ut/
  • Rhymes: -uːt

Adjective

minute (comparative minuter, superlative minutest)

  1. Very small.
    They found only minute quantities of chemical residue on his clothing.
  2. Very careful and exact, giving small details.
    • 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:
      The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.
    The lawyer gave the witness a minute examination.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations

Anagrams


French

Etymology

From Old French minute, borrowed from Latin minūta. Compare menu, an inherited doublet.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mi.nyt/

Noun

minute f (plural minutes)

  1. minute (etymology 1, time unit, all same senses)

Interjection

minute

  1. wait a sec!

Verb

minute

  1. first-person singular present indicative of minuter
  2. third-person singular present indicative of minuter
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of minuter
  4. first-person singular present subjunctive of minuter
  5. second-person singular imperative of minuter

Italian

Adjective

minute f pl

  1. feminine plural of minuto

Anagrams


Latin

Participle

minūte

  1. vocative masculine singular of minūtus

References


Old French

Etymology

Borrowing from Medieval Latin minūta.

Noun

minute f (oblique plural minutes, nominative singular minute, nominative plural minutes)

  1. minute (one sixtieth of an hour)

Coordinate terms

Descendants


Portuguese

Verb

minute

  1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of minutar
  2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of minutar
  3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of minutar
  4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of minutar