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

Shorter bans - with a minimum of six matches - may also be considered when there are mitigating circumstances or an individual has admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

This pay-as-you-go approach is the result of legislation in 1939 that tied benefits to average earnings over a minimum period of coverage, and that rewarded early generations with windfall returns on their contributions.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

Google’s support was limited and covered the minimum amount the banks required to get the financing done, one of those people said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

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

“The bare minimum, for my children,” she’d declare under her breath, all the livelong day.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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

In momentum space, free electrons are found in the local minima and maxima of the energy landscape, namely at points where the conduction and valence bands meet.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 17, 2024

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 class of functions includes all those which have a finite number of maxima and minima in a finite-interval, and some which have an infinite number.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

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

You can do this by designating a child as an authorized user, which is a person added to a credit-card account by the primary cardholder, although some issuers have age minimums as low as 13.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026

These types of funds often have high-income minimums.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 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