Etymologically
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minuto

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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