Minute German · revision 34817

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=15th century|origins=la minuō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /miˈnuːtə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Minute''' ''f'' (genitive Minute, plural Minuten, diminutive Minütchen n or Minuterl n)^(Wiktionary)

+ Pinician's dictionary of 1516 has ''minut'', and a 1571 source the diminutive ''Minütl''.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was borrowed in the 15th century, [[bor|la-med|minūta|t=sixtieth of an hour]], the feminine of [[la|minūtus|t=made smaller, very small]], the past participle of [[m|la|minuō|t=to make smaller]], which is related to [[m|la|minus|t=less]].^(Kluge 2011|625)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The sense comes from the phrase [[m|la|pars minūta prīma|t=first diminished part]], the first subdivision of a quantity divisible by sixty in the sexagesimal system of Ptolemy; the second subdivision, [[m|la|pars minūta secunda]], gave [[Sekunde]].^(Kluge 2011|625)^(DFWB)^(Duden 7 2014|565)

+

+ The sources differ on the immediate source: Kluge and Pfeifer name Late Latin, where Pfeifer finds the sense “sixtieth part of a degree or an hour” already in Augustine, while the Duden dictionaries and Paul name Medieval Latin.^(Kluge 2011|625)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|565)^(Paul 2002) The Grimms derive it from [[la-lat|minūtum|t=tenth of an hour]], applied in the later Middle Ages to the smaller division taken from Arabic science.^(DWB|12, 2246) The same source gave [[nl|minuut]], [[en|minute]], [[fr|minute]] and [[sv|minut]].^(Kluge 2011|625)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the 15th century the word was at home among people with scholarly training, in the sense “sixtieth part of an hour”;^(DWB|12, 2246)^(DFWB) Oswald von Wolkenstein lists ''stund, weil, die zeit, minut und quint''.^(DWB|12, 2246)^(DFWB) The Early New High German word could also mean “short note, memorandum”.^(FWB)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its spread followed that of public clocks: rare in the 14th century, they became common in the 15th, and by the 16th century almost every sizable town had a clock showing the hours divided in the modern way, which brought the word to ordinary people.^(DWB|12, 2246)^(Pfeifer 1993) The arithmetic books of the 16th century teach that ''j stunde ist sechtzigk minuten'' (1542).^(DWB|12, 2246)

+

+ From the end of the 18th century it was also used loosely for a very short time, a moment, as in Thümmel (1791).^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) Philipp von Zesen proposed the German replacement ''Zeitblick'', which did not catch on.^(DFWB) The German word passed into several neighbouring languages, among them Czech and Slovene ''minuta'' and Latvian ''minūte''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 15th century – ''Minute'' is borrowed in mathematical usage.^(Kluge 2011|625)^(DFWB)

+ * 1516 – Pinician's dictionary records ''minut''.^(DFWB)

+ * 16th century – Public clocks with minute divisions spread the word.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1542 – An arithmetic book states that an hour has sixty minutes.^(DWB|12, 2246)

+ * 1791 – Thümmel uses ''Minute'' for “a moment”.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|minute]], the sixtieth part of an [[m|en|hour]]: ''Der Bus kommt in zehn Minuten.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A moment, a short time: ''Warte bitte eine Minute!'';^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''in letzter Minute'', at the last moment.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The sixtieth part of a [[m|en|degree]] of [[m|en|arc]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Minutenzeiger]]

+ * [[minutenlang]]

+ * [[Minütchen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Sekunde]]

+ * [[minus]]

+ * [[en|minute]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Fünf Minuten vor zwölf'' “five minutes to twelve” means at the last possible moment.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The diminutive is ''Minütchen'', in Austria also ''Minuterl''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}