minima
- 1Plural of minimum.
The graph shows two distinct minima where the curve dips to its lowest points.
Overnight minima rarely fell below freezing during that mild season.
Note
A Latin plural carried over intact. In Latin, minima is the neuter plural of minimus, "least, smallest." It sits beside the regularized minimums and tends to win in mathematical, scientific and technical writing: the low points of a curve, the faint phases of a variable star, the lowest values in a sample. Treat it strictly as a plural: several minima, never a minima.
minima is a form of minimum
minimum, noun: The smallest amount, number or degree of something that is possible, needed or allowed; the lowest limit something cannot go below. Full entry
- Spelling
- minimum → minima: irregular plural (no -s)
Use it in a sentence
Write your own sentence with minima, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.
Origin
A learned borrowing from Latin minima, the neuter plural form of minimus, meaning "least" or "smallest."