Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Minute?

\Min"ute\ (?; 277), 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[deg] 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}. Note: 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"\, 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. Usage: {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.