Minute

Min′ute, n. [LL. minuta a small portion, small coin, fr. L. minutus small: cf. F. minute. See 4th Minute.]

1. The sixtieth part of an hour; sixty seconds. (Abbrev. m.; as, 4 h. 30 m.)

Four minutes, that is to say, minutes of an hour. Chaucer.

2. The sixtieth part of a degree; sixty seconds (Marked thus (′); as, 10° 20′).

3. A nautical or a geographic mile.

4. A coin; a half farthing. [Obs.] Wyclif (Mark xii. 42)

5. A very small part of anything, or anything very small; a jot; a tittle. [Obs.]

Minutes and circumstances of his passion. Jer. Taylor.

6. A point of time; a moment.

I go this minute to attend the king. Dryden.

7. The memorandum; a record; a note to preserve the memory of anything; as, to take minutes of a contract; to take minutes of a conversation or debate.

8. (Arch.) A fixed part of a module. See Module.

☞ Different writers take as the minute one twelfth, one eighteenth, one thirtieth, or one sixtieth part of the module.

Min′ute, a. Of or pertaining to a minute or minutes; occurring at or marking successive minutes.

Minute bell, a bell tolled at intervals of a minute, as to give notice of a death or a funeral. — Minute book, a book in which written minutes are entered. — Minute glass, a glass measuring a minute or minutes by the running of sand. — Minute gun, a discharge of a cannon repeated every minute as a sign of distress or mourning. — Minute hand, the long hand of a watch or clock, which makes the circuit of the dial in an hour, and marks the minutes.

Min′ute, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Minuted; p. pr. & vb. n. Minuting.] To set down a short sketch or note of; to jot down; to make a minute or a brief summary of.

The Empress of Russia, with her own hand, minuted an edict for universal tolerance. Bancroft.

Mi·nute′ (mĭ·nūt′), a. [L. minutus, p. p. of minuere to lessen. See Minish, Minor, and cf. Menu, Minuet.]

1. Very small; little; tiny; fine; slight; slender; inconsiderable. "Minute drops." Milton.

2. Attentive to small things; paying attention to details; critical; particular; precise; as, a minute observer; minute observation.

Syn. — Little; diminutive; fine; critical; exact; circumstantial; particular; detailed. — Minute, Circumstantial, Particular. A circumstantial account embraces all the leading events; a particular account includes each event and movement, though of but little importance; a minute account goes further still, and omits nothing as to person, time, place, adjuncts, etc.