minutes

British  

/ ˈmɪnɪts /

plural noun

1. an official record of the proceedings of a meeting, conference, convention, etc

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Explanation

Minutes are notes that are taken at a meeting and often distributed to participants. Often, the secretary of an organization or club is the person who gets stuck taking the minutes. The best minutes provide a summary of the most important items that were discussed during a meeting. Parent-teacher organizations, city councils, and court hearings all include someone who takes minutes. In the case of a hearing, every single word spoken in the courtroom, unless specifically excluded by the judge, is included in the minutes. The Latin root of minutes is minuta scriptura, "rough notes," or "small writing."

Example Sentences

Arteta left for home 20 minutes before the game kicked off but did not actually watch the match.

From BBC • May 21, 2026

The Federal Reserve released minutes from its policymaking arm’s April meeting, which showed that most officials said that interest-rate hikes would likely be appropriate if inflation keeps running above the central bank’s target of 2%.

From Barron's • May 21, 2026

On Wednesday, minutes of April’s Federal Open Market Committee Meeting showed that most participants judged the recent jobs data as stabilizing.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

Conversely, tsunamis generated further away from France, for example off the northern coast of North Africa, can reach the French Riviera in less than 90 minutes.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2026

“I don’t know, Dad. It’s all rough. I spend, like, ten minutes on each one.”

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison