minimus

[min-uh-muh s]

noun, plural min·i·mi

[min-uh-mahy] /ˈmɪn əˌmaɪ/.

a creature or being that is the smallest or least significant.
Anatomy. the little finger or toe.

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 of minimus

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.
Systematics of Megachiropteran Bats in the Solomon Islands
Carleton J. Phillips
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.
The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah, Vol. 1 No. 1
Stephen D. Durrant

British Dictionary definitions for minimus

minimus

adjective

(immediately postpositive) British the youngest: sometimes used after the surname of a schoolboy having elder brothers at the same schoolHunt minimus

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

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