minimum

American  

[min-uh-muhm] / ˈmɪn ə məm /

noun

minimums, plural minima plural

1. the least quantity or amount possible, assignable, allowable, or the like.

2. the lowest speed permitted on a highway.

3. the lowest amount, value, or degree attained or recorded.

4. an arbitrary amount set by a restaurant, nightclub, etc., as the least amount to be charged each person for food and drink.

5. Mathematics.

   1. Also called relative minimum,.  Also called local minimum.  the value of a function at a certain point in its domain, which is less than or equal to the values at all other points in the immediate vicinity of the point.

   2. the point in the domain at which a minimum occurs.

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adjective

1. noting or indicating a minimum.

2. least possible.

   minimum risk.

3. lowest.

   a minimum rate.

4. pertaining to a minimum or minimums.

minimum British  

/ ˈmɪnɪməm /

noun

1. the least possible amount, degree, or quantity

2. the least amount recorded, allowed, or reached

   the minimum in our temperature record this month was 50°

3. (modifier) being the least possible, recorded, allowed, etc

   minimum age

4. maths a value of a function that is less than any neighbouring value

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adjective

1. of or relating to a minimum or minimums

minimum Scientific  

/ mĭn′ə-məm /

minimums plural

1. The lowest known or lowest possible number, measure, quantity, or degree.

2. The lowest value of a mathematical function, if it has such a value.

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Usage

What does minimum mean? Minimum means the lowest amount or level of something. Minimum can be a noun or an adjective and it has several more specific meanings, all of which are related in some way to its primary meaning. When minimum is used as a noun, its plural can be minimums or, less commonly, minima. Example: Take the pie out of the oven and let it cool for a minimum of 30 minutes before serving.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• minima
  plural
• minimums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of minimum

First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin, neuter of minimus “smallest, least”; see minor

Explanation

The minimum is the lowest or smallest amount possible or acceptable. If you do the minimum amount of work at your job, you might not get fired — but you definitely won't get promoted. Minimum is Latin for smallest, so clearly English speakers have done less than the minimum amount of messing with the meaning of this word. Obviously, the opposite is maximum. At minimum, you should know that the word means the smallest limit of something. At most, you should be able to talk about its Latin roots.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

minimum minima minimums

A jury convicted him of a misdemeanor anyway, on the theory that a single six-pack sat in plain view, and a judge gave him the statutory minimum: a $1,500 fine and three days in jail.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

While that figure is higher than most, school districts’ fixed costs have been found to be a third of overall district costs at minimum, and generally higher.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026

"As a Rangers striker, hitting 20 goals should be the minimum," says Halliday, who played with Shankland at Hearts.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

LeBron James signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, taking the league minimum salary.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

The exposition’s union carpenters, aware of their great value in this final phase of construction, seized the moment and walked off the job, demanding a minimum union wage and other long-sought concessions.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

The researchers are now planning a metagenomic study that extends the time series to cover periods of even more intense sea ice minima.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2024

"We found that even when bulk pyrite sulfur isotopes changed a lot between glacials and interglacials, the minima of our single grain pyrite distributions remained broadly constant," Bryant said.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 24, 2023

Our home star goes through periods called grand minima when there are few to no sunspots.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 19, 2023

She was able to get photos of the Perdita minima but not the hard-to-spot burrows she hoped to also find.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2022

This phenomenon recurs with such regularity that the interval between successive minima may be determined in some cases within a fraction of a second.

From A Plan for Securing Observations of the Variable Stars by Pickering, E. C.

The transfer came with broader changes to an existing credit agreement, including revising minimum liquidity requirements and removing certain financial metric minimums, according to the company’s latest quarterly filing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

But they are based on 2025 stress capital buffers, or SCBs, which refer to the capital lenders must hold above required regulatory minimums.

From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026

The organisation said their documented figures should be seen as "absolute minimums", as getting information on deaths was severely limited by difficulty accessing sites, government-imposed internet blackouts and political repression.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

The court then issued a related ruling in Rutherford that prisoners could not receive a reduction in sentence based on mandatory minimums that Congress had reduced after their conviction.

From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026

White men comprised 78 percent of the arrests for this offense in 1990 when new mandatory minimums governing drunk driving were being adopted.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• minimal