Min"ute (?; 277), n. [LL. minuta
a small portion, small coin, fr. L. minutus small: cf. F.
minute. See 4th Minute.]
1. The sixtieth part of an hour; sixty
seconds. (Abbrev. m.; as, 4 h. 30 m.)
Four minutes, that is to say, minutes of
an hour.
Chaucer.
2. The sixtieth part of a degree; sixty
seconds (Marked thus (′); as, 10° 20′).
3. A nautical or a geographic mile.
4. A coin; a half farthing. [Obs.]
Wyclif (Mark xii. 42)
5. A very small part of anything, or anything
very small; a jot; a tittle. [Obs.]
Minutes and circumstances of his
passion.
Jer. Taylor.
6. A point of time; a moment.
I go this minute to attend the
king.
Dryden.
7. The memorandum; a record; a note to
preserve the memory of anything; as, to take minutes of a
contract; to take minutes of a conversation or
debate.
8. (Arch.) A fixed part of a module.
See Module.
&fist; Different writers take as the minute one twelfth, one
eighteenth, one thirtieth, or one sixtieth part of the module.
Min"ute, a. Of or pertaining to a
minute or minutes; occurring at or marking successive
minutes.
Minute bell, a bell tolled at intervals of a
minute, as to give notice of a death or a funeral. --
Minute book, a book in which written minutes
are entered. -- Minute glass, a glass
measuring a minute or minutes by the running of sand. --
Minute gun, a discharge of a cannon repeated
every minute as a sign of distress or mourning. --
Minute hand, the long hand of a watch or clock,
which makes the circuit of the dial in an hour, and marks the
minutes.
Min"ute, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Minuted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Minuting.] To set down a short sketch or note of; to jot
down; to make a minute or a brief summary of.
The Empress of Russia, with her own hand,
minuted an edict for universal tolerance.
Bancroft.
Mi*nute" (?), a. [L. minutus, p.
p. of minuere to lessen. See Minish, Minor, and
cf. Menu, Minuet.]
1. Very small; little; tiny; fine; slight;
slender; inconsiderable. "Minute drops."
Milton.
2. Attentive to small things; paying
attention to details; critical; particular; precise; as, a
minute observer; minute observation.
Syn. -- Little; diminutive; fine; critical; exact;
circumstantial; particular; detailed. -- Minute,
Circumstantial, Particular. A circumstantial
account embraces all the leading events; a particular account
includes each event and movement, though of but little importance; a
minute account goes further still, and omits nothing as to
person, time, place, adjuncts, etc.
