minim

[min-uhm]

noun

1. the smallest unit of liquid measure, 1/60 (0.0167) of a fluid dram, roughly equivalent to one drop. min, min.; ♍, ♏

2. Music.,  a note, formerly the shortest in use, but now equivalent in time value to one half of a semibreve; half note.

3. the least quantity of anything.

4. something very small or insignificant.

5. (initial capital letter),  a member of a mendicant religious order founded in the 15th century by St. Francis of Paola.

adjective

1. smallest.

2. very small.

minim

/ ˈmɪnɪm /

noun

1. M. a unit of fluid measure equal to one sixtieth of a drachm. It is approximately equal to one drop

2. Usual US and Canadian name: half-note. music a note having the time value of half a semibreve

3. a small or insignificant person or thing

4. a downward stroke in calligraphy

adjective

1. rare,  very small; tiny

Word History and Origins

Origin of minim¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin, Latin minimus; as musical term, < Medieval Latin ( nota ) minima; minimum

Word History and Origins

Origin of minim¹

C15 (in its musical meaning): from Latin minimus smallest

Example Sentences

The relation a lived life bears to the black marks on the page is more akin to the way musicians turn minims and crotchets into the sublime craziness, of, say, Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge.

From The Guardian

I vaguely wondered how I might annotate it on a musical stave – a run of semiquavers, a minim’s pause, and triplets: presto agitato!

From The Guardian

The patrol says the minim age for operating a motorcycle in North Dakota is 14.

From Washington Times

Three drops of the tincture of digitalis or five minims of the fluid extract of convalaria may be given every four hours to a child of five years.

From Project Gutenberg

He, according to "Wegeler's Notizen," gives it with a minim—I with a crotchet; but neither of these can, to my mind, be made to suit the character of the movement.

From Project Gutenberg