# minimum

Pronunciation: US say "MIN-uh-muhm" /ˈmɪnəməm/; UK say "MIN-i-muhm" /ˈmɪnɪməm/

## Noun

1. The smallest amount, number or degree of something that is possible, needed or allowed; the lowest limit something cannot go below.
   - Simple: The smallest amount that is possible, needed or allowed.
   - _The recipe calls for a minimum of two hours of chilling._
   - _She kept her expenses to a minimum during the long trip._
3. In statistics, the lowest value in a set of sampled data, or the bound below which a probability distribution does not extend.
   - Simple: The smallest value in a set of data, or the lowest value a probability distribution can have.
   - _The sample minimum was the coldest reading taken that week._
   - _Analysts reported the minimum alongside the median and the maximum._
4. In mathematics, the smallest value a function attains, either across its entire domain or near some point, or the point at which it attains that value.
   - Simple: In math, the lowest value a function reaches, overall or in a small area, or the point where it is reached.
   - _The function x² − 4x reaches its minimum at x = 2._
   - _Training algorithms can settle into local minima that are far from the best possible solution._
5. A lower bound of a set that is also a member of that set.
   - Simple: The lowest value of a set, when that value is itself one of the set's members.
   - _The minimum of a closed interval is its left endpoint._
   - _A set with no smallest element has no minimum._

## Adjective

2. Used before a noun: being the smallest or lowest in amount, degree, or extent, as in the minimum age or a minimum charge.
   - Simple: Smallest or lowest in amount or level, often the least that is needed or allowed.
   - _Applicants must meet the minimum age requirement of eighteen._
   - _Keep the room at the minimum temperature needed to prevent the pipes from freezing._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A period during which a star's brightness or energy output is at its lowest.

## Origin

English borrowed this learned word straight from Latin, where minimum is the neuter of minimus, meaning "least, smallest".

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