# minute

Pronunciation: say "MIN-it" /ˈmɪnɪt/

## Noun

1. A unit of time equal to sixty seconds, or one sixtieth of an hour.
   - Simple: A period of sixty seconds. There are sixty minutes in an hour.
   - _The train left exactly one minute late._
   - _Each lap took the runners about two minutes._
2. A short, unspecified period of time. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A short amount of time that is not exactly measured.
   - _She promised to finish in a minute, but it took far longer._
   - _Hold on a minute while I check the calendar._
3. A particular point in time; a passing moment.
   - Simple: A single short moment in time.
   - _The minute she walked in, the room went quiet._
   - _He might call at any minute now._
4. A formal written record of the proceedings or decisions of a meeting.
   - Simple: A written record of what is said and decided at a meeting.
   - _According to the minutes, the board voted to delay the new library until spring._
   - _She added a minute noting the committee's objection to the plan._
7. A unit of angular measurement equal to one sixtieth of a degree.
   - Simple: A unit for measuring angles, 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._
8. A fairly long while, without saying exactly how long. *(slang, US, Canada)*
   - Simple: A long time, often months or even years.
   - _We've been friends for a minute now, haven't we?_
   - _That diner has been closed for a minute._

## Adjective

Pronunciation: US say "my-NOOT" /maɪˈnut/; UK say "my-NYOOT" /maɪˈnjuːt/

5. Extremely small in size or amount; tiny.
   - Simple: Very, very small in size or amount.
   - _The technician spotted a minute flaw in the circuit board._
   - _The test can detect minute amounts of sugar in a single drop of blood._
6. Marked by careful attention to the smallest details; precise and thorough.
   - Simple: Done with great care and full of small details.
   - _His minute analysis of the manuscript exposed several forgeries._
   - _The inspector made a minute examination of the wreckage._

## Verb

9. To record something in the minutes of a meeting or in a brief written note.
   - Simple: To write down what was said or decided, especially at a meeting.
   - _The secretary minuted every motion raised during the session._
   - _Please minute that the proposal was rejected._

## Noun

10. A very small part of anything; the least bit; a jot or whit. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A tiny bit or very small part of something.
11. A former coin equal in value to half a farthing. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old coin worth half a farthing.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A unit of distance equal to a nautical mile, roughly the length of one minute of latitude.
- (noun) In classical architecture, a fixed subdivision of a module, used to set the proportions of a column.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 7–11** — Medieval Latin minūta, meaning a 60th of an hour and also a note, passed into Old French as minute and then into Middle English as minute. Menu and menudo come from the same source, so they are doublets.
**Meanings 5–6** — Latin minuō ("to make smaller") had the perfect passive participle minūtus ("small, petty"), and English borrowed that participle.

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