minute

minute¹

/min"it/, n., v., minuted, minuting, adj.

n.

1. the sixtieth part (¹/₆₀) of an hour; sixty seconds.

2. an indefinitely short space of time: Wait a minute!

3. an exact point in time; instant; moment: Come here this minute!

4. minutes, the official record of the proceedings at a meeting of a society, committee, or other group.

5. Chiefly Brit. a written summary, note, or memorandum.

6. a rough draft, as of a document.

7. Geom. the sixtieth part of a degree of angular measure, often represented by the sign ', as in 12° 10', which is read as 12 degrees and 10 minutes. Cf. angle¹ (def. 1c).

8. up to the minute, modern; up-to-date: The building design is up to the minute.

v.t.

9. to time exactly, as movements or speed.

10. to make a draft of (a document or the like).

11. to record in a memorandum; note down.

12. to enter in the minutes of a meeting.

adj.

13. prepared in a very short time: minute pudding.

[1350-1400; ME < ML minuta, n. use of fem. of minutus MINUTE²]

Syn. 2. jiffy, second. MINUTE, INSTANT, MOMENT refer to small amounts of time. A MINUTE, properly denoting 60 seconds, is often used loosely for any very short space of time (and may be interchangeable with second): I'll be there in just a minute. An INSTANT is practically a point in time, with no duration, though it is also used to mean a perceptible amount of time: not an instant's delay. MOMENT denotes much the same as INSTANT, though with a somewhat greater sense of duration (but somewhat less than MINUTE): It will only take a moment.

minute²

—minuteness, n.

/muy nooht", -nyooht", mi-/, adj. minuter, minutest.

1. extremely small, as in size, amount, extent, or degree: minute differences.

2. of minor importance; insignificant; trifling.

3. attentive to or concerned with even the smallest details: a minute examination.

[1425-75; late ME < L minutus (ptp. of minuere to make smaller or fewer), equiv. to minu- verb s. + -tus ptp. suffix. See MINUS, MINOR]

Syn. 1. tiny, infinitesimal, minuscule. See little. 3. detailed, exact, precise.

Ant. 1. large. 3. rough, general.

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▪ unit of time

      in timekeeping, 60 seconds, now defined in terms of radiation emitted from atoms of the element cesium under specified conditions. The minute was formerly defined as the 60th part of an hour, or the 1,440th part (60 × 24 [hours] = 1,440) of a mean solar day—i.e., of the average period of rotation of the Earth relative to the Sun. The minute of sidereal time (time measured by the stars rather than by the Sun) was a fraction of a second shorter than the mean solar minute. The minute of atomic time is very nearly equal to the mean solar minute in duration.

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