minute
Pluralminutes
Pluralminutes
Formsminutes, minuting, minuted
- 1A period of sixty seconds. There are sixty minutes in an hour.
Like the time it takes the big hand on a clock to move one step.
The egg should boil for one minute.
We waited five minutes for the next train.
- 2
- 3
- 4A written record of what is said and decided at a meeting.
Like notes you take in class so you remember what happened.
Can you send me the minutes from last week's meeting?
Who is taking the minutes at tonight's club meeting?
UsageSay someone takes the minutes at a meeting.
Similarnote, record, memorandum
Note
Less common meanings
- 5Very, very small in size or amount.
Like a tiny dot you can barely see on a wall.
He noticed a minute crack in the glass.
Even minute amounts of the dust can cause trouble.
UsageSay it my-NOOT when it means very small.
Similartiny, minuscule, infinitesimal, insignificant
Oppositehuge, enormous, vast, colossal
Note
- 6Done with great care and full of small details.
She gave a minute description of everything she had seen.
The manual includes minute instructions for each step.
UsageUse in minute detail to mean including even the smallest details.
Similarprecise, exact, careful, thorough, accurate
Oppositecursory, superficial, careless
Note
- 7A unit for measuring angles, equal to one sixtieth of a degree.
Like splitting one small slice of a circle into sixty even smaller slices.
The angle was off by just one minute.
Surveyors recorded the slope in degrees and minutes.
Note
- 8A long time, often months or even years.
Like saying you waited 'forever' when you really mean a long time.
I haven't seen my cousin in a minute.
That store has been there for a minute now.
UsageSay I haven't seen you in a minute when you have not seen someone for a long time.
Similarage, eternity, forever, ages, spell
Note
- 9
- 10A tiny bit or very small part of something.
Note
- 11An old coin worth half a farthing.
- 12A distance at sea of about one nautical mile, the length of one minute of latitude.
- 13In classic building design, a small fixed part used to measure column sizes.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
It comes from the Medieval Latin word "minūta". That word meant a 60th part of an hour, and also a note. It came to English through the Old French word "minute".
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English minute derives from Medieval Latin minūta. en.wiktionary.org
- Medieval Latin minūta meant a sixtieth of an hour and a note. en.wiktionary.org
- The word entered English through Old French minute. en.wiktionary.org
From Latin minūtus, meaning "small," from the verb minuō ("to make smaller").
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The adjective minute comes from Latin minūtus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin minūtus means small. en.wiktionary.org
- Minūtus derives from the verb minuō. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin minuō means to make smaller. en.wiktionary.org