n. [ LL. minuta a small portion, small coin, fr. L. minutus small: cf. F. minute. See 4th Minute. ] [ 1913 Webster ] 1. The sixtieth part of an hour; sixty seconds. (Abbrev. m. or min.; as, 4 h. 30 m.) [ 1913 Webster ] Four minutes, that is to say, minutes of an hour. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. The sixtieth part of a degree; sixty seconds (Marked thus (′); as, 10° 20′). [ 1913 Webster ] 3. A nautical or a geographic mile. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. A coin; a half farthing. [ Obs. ] Wyclif (Mark xii. 42) [ 1913 Webster ] 5. A very small part of anything, or anything very small; a jot; a tittle. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] Minutes and circumstances of his passion. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ] 6. A point of time; a moment. [ 1913 Webster ] I go this minute to attend the king. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] 7. pl. 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; to read the minutes of the last meeting. [ 1913 Webster ] 8. (Arch.) A fixed part of a module. See Module. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ Different writers take as the minute one twelfth, one eighteenth, one thirtieth, or one sixtieth part of the module. [ 1913 Webster ] |