minuto

Forms

minūtō (present infinitive minūtāre, perfect passive participle minūtātus); first conjugation^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin minūtus (“small”),^[1] itself from minuō (“to make smaller”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Itala (after 220 AD),^[3] in the Book of Isaiah, meaning to break into small pieces.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Late Latin medical writers used it for making something small.^[1] In medieval Latin it could mean to splinter, as lances do in battle,^[4] to crumble,^[5] and also to reduce or diminish, as of taxes.^[6][7] In Poland it was used for copying out documents.^[7]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Itala uses it for breaking into pieces.^[2][3]
• c. 400 AD – Theodorus Priscianus uses it for making small.^[1][3]
• 1455 – A Hungarian document speaks of reducing the dues of a vineyard hill.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Late Latin) To make small; to break into small pieces, crumble.^[1][2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) To diminish, reduce.^[6][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) To copy out, transcribe.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
5. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
6. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
7. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl