Link Centre Dictionary

minute

mi·nute

UK/maɪ̯ˈnjuːt/ US/maɪ̯ˈnjʊwt/ very common informal slang us
noun (6) adjective (3)

noun

1.

a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour

  • “he ran a 4 minute mile”
Synonyms
2.

an indefinitely short time

  • “wait just a moment”
  • “it only takes a minute”
  • “in just a bit”
Synonyms
3.

a particular point in time

  • “the moment he arrived the party began”
Synonyms
4.

a unit of angular distance equal to a 60th of a degree

Synonyms
5.

a short note

  • “the secretary keeps the minutes of the meeting”
6.

distance measured by the time taken to cover it

  • “we live an hour from the airport”
  • “its just 10 minutes away”
Synonyms

adjective

1.

infinitely or immeasurably small

  • “two minute whiplike threads of protoplasm”
  • “reduced to a microscopic scale”
Synonyms
Similar
2.
3.

characterized by painstaking care and detailed examination

  • “a minute inspection of the grounds”
  • “a narrow scrutiny”
  • “an exact and minute report”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English mynute, minute, mynet, from Old French minute, from Medieval Latin minūta (“60th of an hour; note”). Doublet of menu and menudo.

Phrases

  • 15 minutes
  • 15 minutes of fame
  • 15 minutes of shame
  • 15-minute city
  • a sucker is born every minute
  • any minute now
  • at the last minute
  • at the minute

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.