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.
-
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
-
to time in terms of minutes
adjective
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very small; diminutive; tiny
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unimportant; petty
-
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:
The alleged incident happened in the final minute of the Group C match in Baku.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
No director cut it at the last minute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
ICE had been patrolling the neighborhood, he told me, and when the man drove away from the shop with his vehicle fixed, there were five cars on him within a minute.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026
The company said its backup diesel generators run only for five minute tests each week and, thanks to abatement efforts, produce "about 44 decibels of sound, quieter than a soft conversation three feet away."
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026
And then a minute later, before I’ve finished replying to Brie, Dad texts.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
A spokeswoman said usage grew after Schwab launched a fully digital process three years ago that can get the loans approved within minutes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
Still, these mini-concerts, which last roughly 13 minutes, have been watched en masse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
Archbishop Grob said that after 90 minutes of meetings with officials, the religious leaders were ushered into the Oval Office to pray with Trump.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
I sat in the garage with it for 20 minutes.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
By our fifth trial we were down to two minutes.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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
When living and young the protoplasm extends into these and by minuter perforations connects across them.
From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Asa Gray
The secret of Wordsworth's profound and peculiar love for Nature, even in her meaner and minuter forms, may lie, perhaps, here.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. V, October, 1850, Volume I. by
He saw quickly the essential points, and soon tired of any minuter examination.”
From Italy, the Magic Land by Lilian Whiting
I would have returned to the capital, to attempt tracing her by minuter enquiry; but I was deterred by poverty, and the fear of personal discovery.
From The Wanderer (Volume 5 of 5) or, Female Difficulties by Fanny Burney
“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
As a matter of fact, every minutest detail of cathedral construction and ornamentation shared in this artistic triumph.
From The Thirteenth Greatest of Centuries by James J. (James Joseph) Walsh
The meeting where councillors selected Whitegates was also not minuted, prompting claims of a "cloak and dagger process" from protestors.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2025
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
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
The particulars are minuted in my Journal, but I shall not trouble the publick with them.
From Life of Johnson, Volume 5 Tour to the Hebrides (1773) and Journey into North Wales (1774) by James Boswell
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
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
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
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
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