minute
1 Americannoun
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minutes
plural
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the sixtieth part (1/60) of an hour; sixty seconds.
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an indefinitely short space of time.
Wait a minute!
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an exact point in time; instant; moment.
Come here this minute!
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minutes, the official record of the proceedings at a meeting of a society, committee, or other group.
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Chiefly British. a written summary, note, or memorandum.
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a rough draft, as of a document.
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Geometry. the sixtieth part of a degree of angular measure, often represented by the sign ′, as in 12° 10′, which is read as 12 degrees and 10 minutes.
verb (used with object)
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minutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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minuted,
past participle, past
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minuting
present participle
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to time exactly, as movements or speed.
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to make a draft of (a document or the like).
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to record in a memorandum; note down.
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to enter in the minutes of a meeting.
adjective
idioms
adjective
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extremely small, as in size, amount, extent, or degree.
minute differences.
- Synonyms:
- minuscule, infinitesimal, tiny
- Antonyms:
- large
-
of minor importance; insignificant; trifling.
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attentive to or concerned with even the smallest details.
a minute examination.
noun
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a period of time equal to 60 seconds; one sixtieth of an hour
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Also called: minute of arc. ′. a unit of angular measure equal to one sixtieth of a degree
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any very short period of time; moment
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a short note or memorandum
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the distance that can be travelled in a minute
it's only two minutes away
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(up-to-the-minute when prenominal) very latest or newest
verb
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to record in minutes
to minute a meeting
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to time in terms of minutes
adjective
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very small; diminutive; tiny
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unimportant; petty
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precise or detailed
a minute examination
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A unit of time equal to 1/60 of an hour or 60 seconds.
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◆ A sidereal minute is 1/60 of a sidereal hour, and a mean solar minute is 1/60 of a mean solar hour.
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See more at sidereal time solar time
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A unit of angular measurement, such as longitude or right ascension, that is equal to 1/60 of a degree or 60 seconds.
Synonym Usage
Minute, instant, moment refer to small amounts of time. A minute, properly denoting 60 seconds, is often used loosely for any very short space of time (and may be interchangeable with second ): I'll be there in just a minute. An instant is practically a point in time, with no duration, though it is also used to mean a perceptible amount of time: not an instant's delay. Moment denotes much the same as instant, though with a somewhat greater sense of duration (but somewhat less than minute ): It will only take a moment.
See little.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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minutesimple
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minutessimple
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have minutedperfect
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has minutedperfect
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am minutingprogressive
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are minutingprogressive
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is minutingprogressive
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have been minutingperfect progressive
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has been minutingperfect progressive
Past
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minutedsimple
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had minutedperfect
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was minutingprogressive
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were minutingprogressive
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had been minutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of minute1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, Middle French, from Medieval Latin minūta, noun use of feminine of minūtus minute 2
Origin of minute2
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Latin minūtus (past participle of minuere “to make smaller or fewer”), equivalent to minū- verb stem + -tus past participle suffix; see minus, minor
Explanation
Craftsmen can paint whole villages or detailed portraits of people on a grain of rice using minute, or tiny, paintbrushes. Often the works of art are so minute that you can only see them with a magnifying glass. Minutus is the Latin word for "small," and it gave rise to both the adjective minute (my-NOOT), or incredibly small, and the noun minute (MIN-it), or 60 seconds of time. Though they are pronounced differently, both words refer to small measurements. An object can be minute, like a flea compared with its dog, and less concrete things can be minute, like your minute chance of winning the lottery. A minute freckle on the side of your nose is a minute detail of your whole face.
Vocabulary lists containing minute
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Over the weekend, Carney said US negotiators had sought restrictions on Canadian trade deals with other countries at the last minute.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
But Sunday's surprise midfield partner Guehi showcased his versatility by scoring the 10th Premier League goal of his career with an 84th minute header.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Raman tried until the last minute to get the county to remain in LAHSA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
The countries were close to an agreement until, poof, the cease-fire blew up at the last minute with each side blaming the other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
I ducked out of sight, waited a minute, then looked again.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
A few minutes after liftoff, its two halves will separate and fall away, allowing Roman to continue its journey into space.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Marmoush found himself competing for minutes in a side built around Haaland, while City further strengthened their attacking options.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
"What happened is sad, but there was no negligence when it came to the rescue operations," he said, adding that teams had reached the hospital in six minutes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
He’s streamlined the drama to an hour and 40 minutes and cut and combined some characters, though he promises that audiences will be encountering “the whole play.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
It’s what I thought I wanted ten minutes ago, and at first I thrill at this thought, that I could walk out of this building and never again have to return.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Flyers in the race signed a last minute agreement to delay the start four days, to give opportunity for minuter mechanical overhauling, stricter sifting of entrants' abilities to fly.
From Time Magazine Archive
The minuter objects—pebbles, shells, and the smaller bunches of sea-weed—always assumed the circular form; the larger, such as detached rocks, and patches of sand, appeared as if described by irregular curves.
From My Schools and Schoolmasters or The Story of my Education. by Hugh Miller
Even the minuter pleasures of settling a date, or classifying a title-page, were enjoyments to his incessant pen.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Isaac Disraeli
But Chatham wanted it quite as much as he; and it was deemed invidious to measure so accomplished a man, and so sworn a friend of peace and good order, by the minuter rules.
From Leading Articles on Various Subjects by John Davidson
Early in his illness the god instructed him to record its details, and he obeyed with zest, though in after years he was not always able to record the minuter points with complete clearness.
From The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire by T. R. (Terrot Reaveley) Glover
“It is, in fact, his power of observation, his eye for the minutest detail, that sets him apart not only from most baseball writers but also from most writers, period.”
From Washington Post ● May 20, 2022
Our changes of attitude aren’t because we are anthropomorphizing our own longing onto them; every creature, from the minutest to the massive, wants to escape from pain and death.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2021
The responsibilities included many works of art, including the bust that Hill’s friends described as “so faithful a likeness, down to the minutest detail of resemblance and personality, as to be startling.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 24, 2017
Mayer would regularly interrogate designers about the minutest details of display and user experience.
From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2014
Neither of us knew that the other had evolved in his mind precisely the same idea, even down to the minutest details, and still less had either of us seen the other play it.
From The Secrets of a Savoyard by Henry A. Lytton
The Kraken seized advantage about six minuted later when Vince Dunn wound up at the left point and blistered a slap shot past Dan Vladar to tie things 1-1.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 20, 2023
"I supported it reluctantly and my concerns were minuted," he said.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2020
Lentils might cook in about 30 minuted, but nothing else does.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2016
Later, I typed up our meetings, minuted them, just like the old days.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 1, 2015
Little more than a minuted had elapsed since the moment when the first peremptory order, to open in the name of the Republic, had sounded like the tocsin through the stillness of the house.
From I Will Repay by Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy
He writes by hand, minuting correspondence he has seen with a letter "B" followed by the Roman numeral "XVI".
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2012
However, he was resolved to stick to the Great Department; and so the work of form-filling, corresponding, minuting, memorandum-making, signing, counter-signing, counter-counter-signing, referring backwards and forwards, and referring sideways, crosswise, and zig-zag, recommenced.
From Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
Hushed with broad sunlight lies the hill, And, minuting the long day's loss, The cedar's shadow, slow and still, Creeps o'er its dial of gray moss.
From The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell by James Russell Lowell
Leaving to Anthony the irksome task of minuting down the roll of time for one unlucky month, turn we to another personage with whom it is high time the reader should be acquainted.
From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 by John Roby
I dare say there was a vast amount of minuting, memoranduming, and despatch-boxing, on this mighty subject.
From Speeches: Literary and Social by Charles Dickens
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
