English Meaning & Definitions
A unit of time equal to sixty seconds or one-sixtieth of an hour.
- “The meeting will begin in exactly five minutes.”
- “She waited for a few minutes before the bus arrived.”
Extremely small in size, amount, or degree.
- “The diamond had a minute flaw that could only be seen under a magnifying glass.”
- “He paid minute attention to every detail of the contract.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “minute”.
Derived from the Latin 'minutus', meaning 'made small' or 'diminished', which is the past participle of 'minuere' (to lessen). In the 14th century, it was used in the phrase 'pars minuta prima' (first small part) to describe the division of an hour, and later evolved to describe something extremely small in size.
Think of a 'minute' (time) as a tiny slice of an hour, and 'minute' (size) as something so small you need a microscope to see it.
Frequently Asked Questions About “minute”
1. What is the meaning of “minute” in English?
In English, minute (noun) is defined as: “A unit of time equal to sixty seconds or one-sixtieth of an hour.”.
2. How do you use “minute” in a sentence?
“The meeting will begin in exactly five minutes.”
3. What are English synonyms of “minute”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “minute”?
Derived from the Latin 'minutus', meaning 'made small' or 'diminished', which is the past participle of 'minuere' (to lessen). In the 14th century, it was used in the phrase 'pars minuta prima' (first small part) to describe the division of an hour, and later evolved to describe something extremely small in size.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.