Etymologically
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minutus

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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

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