minimo Italian · revision 39036

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1293–1294, Dante (menimi); 1427, Bernardino da Siena|origins=la minor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmi.ni.mo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''minimo''' (feminine minima, masculine plural minimi, feminine plural minime)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older and literary variants include [[menimo]] and [[minomo]].^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|minimus|alt=mĭnĭmus|t=smallest, least]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|2465) DELI points out that the learned form won out over the popular [[menomo]], the inherited outcome of the same Latin word, which survives mainly in literary use.^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) The same learned adjective is [[fr|minime]], recorded from the 14th century, and [[es|mínimo]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2465)

+

+ In Latin [[m|la|minimus]] served as the superlative of [[m|la|parvus|t=small]], but it is built on the comparative [[m|la|minor|t=smaller, less]], beside the adverb [[m|la|minus|t=less]], the source of Italian [[meno]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan traces these to a Proto-Italic [[m|itc-pro|*minōs|t=less]] and ultimately to the Proto-Indo-European root [[m|ine-pro|*meyh₁-|t=to lessen]], seen also in [[grc|μείων|tr=meíōn|t=smaller]] and [[got|𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃|tr=mins|t=less]].^(de Vaan 2008) Devoto similarly derives the stem from a root meaning “small”.^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ The popular word gave many dialect words for small things: Milanese [[m|lmo|marmel]] “little finger”, and, according to Meyer-Lübke and Körting, Italian [[marmocchio]] “small child” and [[marmaglia]] “rabble”.^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Dante already has the plural ''menimi'' in the ''Vita nuova'' (1293–1294), in the phrase ''li menimi polsi'', “the faintest pulses”.^(DELI 1999) The form ''minimo'', as the superlative of ''piccolo'', is first dated by DELI to Bernardino da Siena in 1427, who preached that no star is so small that it is not larger than the whole earth.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Nocentini date the word to the 14th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Bono Giamboni (before 1292) uses the word for a very humble person, a sense that remains rare and literary.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) As a noun, ''il minimo'' “the least part, the lowest degree” is found in Dante, and Galileo uses it for the smallest possible quantity; he also stresses that ''minimo'' and ''immenso'' are relative, not absolute, terms.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) Because the Latin superlative was no longer felt as one, writers formed ''più minimo'' and ''minimissimo'': Galileo has ''una minimissima particella''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI)

+

+ The feminine ''minima'' became a musical note, half a semibreve (1561), and, with ''temperatura'' understood, the lowest temperature of a period.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Technical senses followed in the 20th century: the idling speed of an engine (1957), the minimum of a mathematical function, and the lowest point of a scale of marks.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The Order of Minims founded by Francis of Paola in 1435 gave ''minimo'' the sense “Minim friar”.^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1293–1294 – Dante writes ''li menimi polsi'' in the ''Vita nuova''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses the noun ''minimo'' “the least degree”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1427 – Bernardino da Siena uses ''minimo'' as the superlative of ''piccolo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1561 – ''Minima'' is recorded as a musical note.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1642 – Galileo uses ''minimo'' for “the smallest” and for the smallest possible quantity.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1939 – ''Minimizzare'' appears, modelled on French ''minimiser''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1957 – ''Minimo'' is recorded for the idling speed of an engine.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Superlative of [[piccolo]]: very small, [[m|en|minimal]]: ''Tra i due prezzi c'è una differenza minima.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The [[m|en|least]], the slightest, especially with abstract nouns: ''Non ho il minimo dubbio.'' (set phrase: ''non avere la minima idea'', to have no idea at all).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Hardly noticeable; of trifling importance: ''Si spaventa al minimo rumore.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # The lowest in a scale of values: ''Il voto minimo per passare è diciotto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary, rare)'' Most humble, lowliest, of a person.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(religion)'' Belonging to the order of [[m|en|Minim|alt=Minims]] founded by Francis of Paola: ''frati minimi''.^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The smallest part, amount or degree; a [[m|en|minimum]]: ''È il minimo che possiamo fare per lui.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The lowest value of a [[funzione|alt=function]] in its domain.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(motoring)'' The [[m|en|idling]] speed of an engine, below which it stalls: ''Con il freddo il motore fatica a tenere il minimo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[minima]]

+ * [[minimizzare]]

+ * [[minimale]]

+ * [[minimalista]]

+ * [[minimalismo]]

+ * [[minimamente]]

+ * [[minimassimo]]

+ * [[minimizzazione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[meno]]

+ * [[mini-]]

+ * [[minimare]]

+ * [[minimax]]

+ * [[menomo]]

+ * [[minore]]

+ * [[minuto]]

+ * [[la|minimus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Al minimo'' and ''come minimo'' mean “at least”, “to say the least”.^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003) Because ''minimo'' is already a superlative, the forms ''più minimo'' and ''minimissimo'' are found but are usually avoided.^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Ridurre ai minimi termini'' is to reduce a fraction to its lowest terms, and figuratively to reduce something or someone to a pitiful state.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Minimo comune multiplo'' is the least common multiple.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}