minute
1 Americannoun
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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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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
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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:
By the time he passed the stretch of road where I was standing on a fence, some 2.5 miles from the line, the gap had shrunk to a minute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
He showed up a minute later, eyeing the contents of my shopping cart and used the cat food in it as an icebreaker to ask about my cat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
"I kind of froze and didn't speak for a minute," says Urmston.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The actor starts his day with an early run and a six-and-a-half minute egg.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
His energy was dwindling with every passing minute, a sure sign that the Afterlife was trying to draw him out of mortality.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Representatives for the “Bad Medicine” rocker told The Times that the concert ran for 90 minutes before ending.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
During the logo-design challenge, when the instructions changed every three minutes, Ryan thought to herself: This is harder than I thought.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But Pogacar had other ideas and set a record time on the final climb of 35 minutes 27 seconds - beating the time set by Italy's legendary Marco Pantani in 1997.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
"We had already packed suitcases just in case, but they gave us only two minutes and carefully checked that nobody was still inside the house," she said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Thirty minutes later we pull up to an apartment building.
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
At Charlotte's next visit, I obliged her to describe her brother; and I had guessed so well, that she only improved my picture, by adding some minuter strokes to the likeness.
From Discipline by Brunton, Mary
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 Disraeli, Isaac
He saw quickly the essential points, and soon tired of any minuter examination.”
From Italy, the Magic Land by Whiting, Lilian
An apparently blended character or a prepotent character may on analysis turn out to be due to the inheritance of a certain proportion of minuter characters derived exclusively from either parent.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various
During morning news briefings, journalists quiz Sheinbaum about the minutest details of her latest chats with Trump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
But 26 minutest later, at 2:06 a.m., he reported that the ship “had begun to take a great inclination to the right side, and there was great upheaval and screams.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2023
Lt Col Hollington put together the programme for their whole-day visit, including all the preparations, which were executed to the minutest detail.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2022
“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
So deep and distinct was the impression which these narrations made upon his mind, that their minutest incidents were indelibly fixed upon his memory.
From Noble Deeds of American Women With Biographical Sketches of Some of the More Prominent by Clement, J. (Jesse)
Changes have been made since Lord Mandelson's sacking, Sir Chris added, "so that we effectively replicate what would normally happen in a panel interview... where there is a minuted conversation with the candidate".
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 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
I had to "stand aside" and have my objection minuted in the face of a sense of the meeting that it was proper to seek such funds.
From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2018
The newly minuted “I Dough, I Dough” ice cream has a fitting new label and updated packaging showcasing two cows wearing top hats with their tales intertwined to show solidarity and unity.
From MSNBC ● Jun. 27, 2015
Barton sat down again, and appeared to reflect for a few minuted; then taking a roll of paper from his pocket, he began leisurely to peruse it.
From Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume I by Lever, Charles James
He writes by hand, minuting correspondence he has seen with a letter "B" followed by the Roman numeral "XVI".
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2012
I dare say there was a vast amount of minuting, memoranduming, and despatch-boxing, on this mighty subject.
From Speeches: Literary and Social by Dickens, Charles
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 Lowell, James Russell
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 Dickens, Charles
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 Roby, John
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.
