minutus

Forms

minūtus (feminine minūta, neuter minūtum, comparative minor, superlative minimus, adverb minūtim); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is the perfect participle of minuō “to make smaller, diminish”, used as an adjective.^[2][1][3] Etymonline traces minuere to Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“small”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “bravo, what tiny letters!”^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant very small, tiny, as Terence's little fish and Cicero's small boats.^[2] It meant slight or petty, as Cicero's Lysias, who sharpened himself on small cases, made of fine particles, as air in Lucretius, and showing minute knowledge, subtle.^[2]

As a noun, minutus or minuta became a small piece, a division of time.^[5] Venantius Fortunatus is Köbler's first source for this.^[5] Romance kept it, as French menu and Spanish menudo.^[1] English minute “sixtieth part of an hour” comes from Medieval Latin minuta, and the adjective minute from minūtus.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of tiny letters.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of little fish.^[2][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of fine particles.^[2][5]
• 536–c. 610 AD – Venantius Fortunatus uses it as a noun.^[5]
• late 14th century – English minute (noun) is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Small, tiny, minute.^[2][1]
2. Slight, petty.^[2][1]
3. Made of fine particles, fine.^[2]
4. Subtle, precise.^[2]

Noun

1. A small piece; a division of time.^[5]

Word family

• minūtal
• minūtia
• *minūtiāre

Related words

• minuo
• English minute

Usage notes

Döderlein says parvus is natural, inherent smallness, while minutus is smallness that has been made, as by dividing.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper