minuto

minuto¹ small, minute

Etymology tree of minuto¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin minutus

French menu

English menu

Italian minuto

English minute

Derived words · minuto¹

Latin minute ← minutus

Pronunciation

• /miˈnu.to/^[1]

Forms

minuto (feminine minuta, masculine plural minuti, feminine plural minute, superlative minutissimo)^[1] Old Italian forms include menuto and northern menudo and menù.^[2]

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Latin minūtus (“small, tiny”), properly the past participle of minuō (“to make smaller, diminish”),^[3][4][5][1] which comes from minus (“less”), the neuter of minor (“smaller”).^[4] DELI notes its use in the Latin phrase ⟨populus minutus⟩, the common people.^[3] The same adjective lives in French menu, Occitan menut, Catalan menut, Spanish menudo, Portuguese miúdo, Sardinian menudu and Romanian mărunt.^[4][6] The Italian menu, from French, is a doublet.^[1]

Latin derivatives gave other Italian words: minūtia (“small particle”) became the learned minuzia and, with a northern sound pattern, minugia “gut strings”, and the verb Vulgar Latin *minutiō lies behind sminuzzare.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Patecchio of Cremona, in the 13th century, for something small in size.^[2] DELI's earliest date is 1273, in a Florentine text, for “of little importance”;^[3][4] “of low condition” follows in Brunetto Latini before 1294 and “careful in every detail” in Dante (1293–1294).^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The plain physical sense “small” is first dated by DELI to Boccaccio (1348–1353), and “slight, thin” of a person to Giovanni Morelli before 1444.^[3] In Florence the popolo minuto were the members of the lesser guilds.^[7][8][9] Al minuto “retail” referred, as Pompeo Neri explained before 1776, to small daily trade.^[3] A minuto was also a small coin of Genoa, Verona and Sardinia from the 14th century.^[10][5]

Minuta “first draft” (14th century) is short for lettera minuta, from the small handwriting used for such letters.^[3] Minuteria “small ornamental objects” is recorded as early as 1299–1300, and minuzioso “meticulous” before 1808 in Cesarotti.^[3]

Timeline

• 1273 – Minuto “of little importance” appears in a Florentine text.^[3][4]
• 1293–1294 – Dante uses minuto “detailed”.^[3]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for people of low condition.^[3]
• 1299–1300 – Minuteria is recorded.^[3]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses minuto “small”.^[3]
• Before 1444 – Giovanni Morelli uses it for a slight person.^[3]
• 1891 – The noun minuto “trifle” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Very small, tiny; made of tiny parts: Aveva una scrittura minuta e ordinata.^[5][11][9]
2. Of a person, slight, delicate in build or features: È una ragazza minuta ma fortissima.^[5][11]
3. (figurative) Of little importance, petty: spese minute.^[5][11][7]
4. (figurative, literary) Of the lower classes: popolo minuto.^[5][9]
5. (figurative) Detailed, meticulous: un’analisi minuta dei dati.^[5][11]

Noun

1. In al minuto, retail, in small quantities: vendita al minuto.^[11][7][12]

Word family

• minuta
• minutaglia
• minutamente
• minutante
• minuteria
• minutezza
• minuzia
• minuzioso
• minuziosità
• minuzzolo
• minugia
• sminuzzare

minuto² minute of time

Pronunciation

• /miˈnu.to/^[1]

Forms

minuto m (plural minuti)^[1]

Etymology

The unit of time is borrowed from Late Latin minūtum (“small thing, particle”), the neuter of the Latin adjective used as a noun.^[3][4][9] Nocentini explains French minute, the source of minute and German Minute, as an ellipsis of Medieval Latin pars minuta (“smallest part”): ⟨pars minuta prima⟩ was the sixtieth part of the hour and ⟨pars minuta secunda⟩ the sixtieth part of that, whence the Italian ⟨minuto primo⟩ and secondo.^[4] DEI and GRADIT compare the French word, recorded from the 13th century.^[10][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record of the noun is in Restoro d'Arezzo in 1282.^[2] DELI's first record is the sixtieth part of a degree of a circle, in Zucchero Bencivenni and Boccaccio in the 14th century; the minute of time is dated 1561, in Alessandro Citolini.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “moment, instant” is recorded before 1735 in Niccolò Forteguerri.^[3] Minuto secondo for the sixtieth part of a minute is from the 17th century.^[10] GRADIT also records old units of area and length called minuto in the Papal States.^[5] German borrowed Minuto in 1806.^[13]

Timeline

• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo has the first record of the noun.^[2]
• 14th century – Zucchero Bencivenni and Boccaccio use minuto for a sixtieth of a degree.^[3]
• 1561 – Alessandro Citolini uses minuto for a unit of time.^[3][5]
• 17th century – Minuto secondo is recorded.^[10]
• Before 1735 – Forteguerri uses minuto “moment”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A minute, the sixtieth part of an hour, sixty seconds: L’autobus passa ogni venti minuti.^[5][11][9]
2. A very short time, a moment: Aspettami un minuto, arrivo subito.^[5][11][9]
3. (geometry) The sixtieth part of a degree of angle.^[3][12][8]
4. (historical) Old units of area and of length.^[5]

Word family

• minutaggio