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minimus

[min-uh-muh s]
noun, plural min·i·mi [min-uh-mahy] /ˈmɪn əˌmaɪ/.
  1. a creature or being that is the smallest or least significant.
  2. Anatomy. the little finger or toe.
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Origin of minimus

1580–90; < New Latin, Latin: literally, smallest
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for minimus

Historical Examples

  • It is called "minimus" because it is the smallest Earth-star.

    The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise

    M. E. Hard

  • That minor and minimus business is rather rotten when you're friends.

    Explorers of the Dawn

    Mazo de la Roche

  • Specimens from Santa Ysabel, southeastward of Choiseul, are slightly larger than the type and paratypes of minimus.

  • On the shore near old Lulea grew Ranunculus minimus parisiensis (R. reptans).

    Lachesis Lapponica

    Carl von Linn

  • It can easily be distinguished from minimus by the following features: Size much larger; claws on front feet longer and thicker.

British Dictionary definitions for minimus

minimus

adjective
  1. (immediately postpositive) British the youngest: sometimes used after the surname of a schoolboy having elder brothers at the same schoolHunt minimus
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for minimus

n.

1580s, from Latin minimus (plural minimi); see minim.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper