minimal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɪn.ɪ.məl/ (UK); /ˈmɪn.ə.məl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin minimus (“smallest, least”) (see minim) and -al,^[2][3] or from minimum and -al.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Extremely small, constituting a minimum: 1666 in the OED and MWU, the 1660s in Etymonline.^[5][4][2]

Semantic evolution

Of a form of painting and sculpture it is from 1958,^[5] and in music a style built on the repetition of short phrases from 1974.^[5] Only barely adequate is a further sense.^[6]

Timeline

• 1666 – extremely small.^[5]
• 1958 – minimal art.^[5]
• 1974 – minimal music.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Smallest possible in amount or degree; minimum.
2. Very small, or only barely adequate.
3. Of or relating to minimalism.

Word family

• minimality
• minimally
• minimalism
• minimalist
• minimalize
• nonminimal
• subminimal
• minimal brain dysfunction

Related words

• minimum
• minim
• minimize
• minor

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin