minute

Less common meanings

5. 5
   tinyadjective

   Extremely small in size or amount; tiny.

   The technician spotted a minute flaw in the circuit board.

   The test can detect minute amounts of sugar in a single drop of blood.

   UsageStress the second syllable (my-NOOT), unlike the time word: minute amounts, a minute flaw.

   Similartiny, minuscule, infinitesimal, insignificant

   Oppositehuge, enormous, vast, colossal

   Note

   The adjective is a separate borrowing, though it shares a Latin root with the time noun. It comes from Latin minūtus, "small, petty," the past participle of minuō, "to make smaller." It suits measured smallness: minute quantities, minute traces, a minute flaw. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The adjective entered English as a separate borrowing from Latin. en.wiktionary.org
   • The adjective comes from Latin minūtus, meaning small or petty. en.wiktionary.org
   • Minūtus is the past participle of minuō, meaning to make smaller. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   detailedadjective

   Marked by careful attention to the smallest details; precise and thorough.

   His minute analysis of the manuscript exposed several forgeries.

   The inspector made a minute examination of the wreckage.

   UsageCommon phrases include a minute examination and in minute detail.

   Similarprecise, exact, careful, thorough, accurate

   Oppositecursory, superficial, careless

   Note

   Where the "very small" sense describes the thing itself, this one describes the scrutiny: a minute examination or a minute analysis follows its subject down to the last particular. Scrupulous, precise and exacting are close neighbors, while excruciating adds a note of strain.

7. 7
   angle unitnouncountable

   A unit of angular measurement equal to one sixtieth of a degree.

   The telescope can resolve detail down to a single minute of arc.

   The chart gave each star's position in degrees, minutes, and seconds.

   Note

   Angles borrow the clock's arithmetic: a degree divides into sixty minutes, just as an hour does. When readers might take it for the time unit, writers say minute of arc, and the rare sexagesm names the same sixtieth. Navigation links it to distance, because one minute of latitude gives approximately the nautical mile. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • A degree divides into sixty angular minutes. en.wikipedia.org
   • An hour divides into sixty minutes. en.wikipedia.org
   • Minute of arc and sexagesm name the angular minute. en.wiktionary.org
   • One minute of latitude is approximately one nautical mile; the distance varies with latitude. weather.gov
8. 8
   long whilenounslangUSCanadacountable

   A fairly long while, without saying exactly how long.

   We've been friends for a minute now, haven't we?

   That diner has been closed for a minute.

   UsageCommon in for a minute and in a minute: haven't seen you in a minute, closed for a minute.

   Similarage, eternity, forever, ages, spell

   Note

   Slang turns the word on its head, so that in a minute means a long while, often years. Kenneth Ring's Letters from Palestine (2010) has "Man, I haven't seen you in a minute… Maybe like two, three years ago?" In formal writing, readers will assume the brief "wait a minute" sense. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Kenneth Ring is associated with the book Letters from Palestine. kenring.org
   • The book contains the quoted words, with intervening narration omitted. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   record officiallyverbtransitive

   To record something in the minutes of a meeting or in a brief written note.

   The secretary minuted every motion raised during the session.

   Please minute that the proposal was rejected.

   Similarrecord, note, log, document

   Note

   Beyond the meeting room, the verb takes some surprising objects. Edmund Dell's The Schuman Plan and the British Abdication of Leadership in Europe (1995) has "Jay minuted Cripps," where the object is the person who received the memo. Peter Hinchliffe's The Other Battle (1996) uses minuting to introduce the exact words written. Dickens, in 1855, mocked "minuting, memoranduming, and despatch-boxing" as official busywork. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • Edmund Dell wrote The Schuman Plan and the British Abdication of Leadership in Europe, published in 1995. openlibrary.org
   • Dell's book contains 'Jay minuted Cripps', with Cripps as the recipient of the written communication. en.wiktionary.org
   • Peter Hinchliffe wrote The Other Battle, first published in 1996. en.wikipedia.org
   • Hinchliffe's book uses 'minuting' to introduce quoted written words. en.wiktionary.org
   • Dickens delivered the speech containing the quotation in 1855. gutenberg.org
   • Dickens used the quoted wording satirically about official activity. gutenberg.org
10. 10
    nounobsolete

    A very small part of anything; the least bit; a jot or whit.

    Note

    The smallest-particle meaning is no longer used, and readers meet it only in older prose. Jeremy Taylor's Ductor Dubitantium (1660) praises prophecies that "descended to minutes and circumstances," meaning down to the last particulars. Writers today would use jot or whit, and the adjective meaning "very small" keeps the idea of smallness in current use. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Jeremy Taylor wrote Ductor Dubitantium, first published in 1660. celm.folger.edu
    • Taylor describes prophecies with the quoted wording, referring to their detailed particulars. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    nounobsoletecountable

    A former coin equal in value to half a farthing.
12. 12
    noun

    A unit of distance equal to a nautical mile, roughly the length of one minute of latitude.
13. 13
    noun

    In classical architecture, a fixed subdivision of a module, used to set the proportions of a column.