# minimal

Pronunciation: US say "MIN-uh-muhl" /ˈmɪn.ə.məl/; UK say "MIN-i-muhl" /ˈmɪn.ɪ.məl/

## Adjective

1. As small in amount, quantity, or degree as it could possibly be.
   - Simple: The least amount possible, or the smallest something can be.
   - _The new rule had minimal impact on daily operations._
   - _Doctors said the procedure carries minimal risk for healthy patients._
2. Characterized by the use of simple forms and spare structures.
   - Simple: Using very simple shapes and plain design, with little extra detail.
   - _Critics admired the artist's minimal canvases of flat, unbroken color._
   - _The architect favored a minimal interior with clean lines and no ornament._
3. In music, built from short phrases that repeat over and over while changing little by little.
   - Simple: Using short pieces of music that repeat and slowly change.
   - _The composer's minimal style develops tension from endlessly repeated motifs._
   - _The ensemble performed a minimal work whose patterns shifted almost imperceptibly._
4. Describing an element of a collection such that no other element is greater, according to a given partial order.
   - Simple: In math, describing a member of a group that has no other member greater than it in a set order.
   - _A finite partially ordered set always contains at least one minimal element._
   - _Mathematicians located every minimal element before mapping the structure of the lattice._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Something very small; a tiny part or fragment.

## Origin

Formed from "minimum" combined with the suffix "-al".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/minimal (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).