minute
    adj 1: infinitely or immeasurably small; "two minute whiplike
           threads of protoplasm"; "reduced to a microscopic scale"
           [syn: infinitesimal, minute]
    2: characterized by painstaking care and detailed examination;
       "a minute inspection of the grounds"; "a narrow scrutiny";
       "an exact and minute report" [syn: minute, narrow]
    n 1: a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour;
         "he ran a 4 minute mile" [syn: minute, min]
    2: an indefinitely short time; "wait just a moment"; "in a mo";
       "it only takes a minute"; "in just a bit" [syn: moment,
       mo, minute, second, bit]
    3: a particular point in time; "the moment he arrived the party
       began" [syn: moment, minute, second, instant]
    4: a unit of angular distance equal to a 60th of a degree [syn:
       minute, arcminute, minute of arc]
    5: a short note; "the secretary keeps the minutes of the
       meeting"
    6: distance measured by the time taken to cover it; "we live an
       hour from the airport"; "its just 10 minutes away" [syn:
       hour, minute]

Minute \Min"ute\, a.
   Of or pertaining to a minute or minutes; occurring at or
   marking successive minutes.
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   Minute bell, a bell tolled at intervals of a minute, as to
      give notice of a death or a funeral.

   Minute book, a book in which written minutes are entered.
      

   Minute glass, a glass measuring a minute or minutes by the
      running of sand.

   Minute gun, a discharge of a cannon repeated every minute
      as a sign of distress or mourning.

   Minute hand, the long hand of a watch or clock, which makes
      the circuit of the dial in an hour, and marks the minutes.
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Minute \Min"ute\ (?; 277), n. [LL. minuta a small portion, small
   coin, fr. L. minutus small: cf. F. minute. See 4th Minute.]
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   1. The sixtieth part of an hour; sixty seconds. (Abbrev. m.
      or min.; as, 4 h. 30 m.)
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            Four minutes, that is to say, minutes of an hour.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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   2. The sixtieth part of a degree; sixty seconds (Marked thus
      ('); as, 10[deg] 20').
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   3. A nautical or a geographic mile.
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   4. A coin; a half farthing. [Obs.] --Wyclif (Mark xii. 42)
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   5. A very small part of anything, or anything very small; a
      jot; a tittle. [Obs.]
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            Minutes and circumstances of his passion. --Jer.
                                                  Taylor.
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   6. A point of time; a moment.
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            I go this minute to attend the king.  --Dryden.
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   7. pl. The memorandum; a record; a note to preserve the
      memory of anything; as, to take minutes of a contract; to
      take minutes of a conversation or debate; to read the
      minutes of the last meeting.
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   8. (Arch.) A fixed part of a module. See Module.
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   Note: Different writers take as the minute one twelfth, one
         eighteenth, one thirtieth, or one sixtieth part of the
         module.
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Minute \Min"ute\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Minuted; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Minuting.]
   To set down a short sketch or note of; to jot down; to make a
   minute or a brief summary of.
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         The Empress of Russia, with her own hand, minuted an
         edict for universal tolerance.           --Bancroft.
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Minute \Mi*nute"\ (m[imac]*n[=u]t" or m[i^]*n[=u]t"), a. [L.
   minutus, p. p. of minuere to lessen. See Minish, Minor,
   and cf. Menu, Minuet.]
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   1. Very small; little; tiny; fine; slight; slender;
      inconsiderable; as, minute details. "Minute drops."
      --Milton.
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   2. Attentive to small things; paying attention to details;
      critical; particular; precise; as, a minute observer;
      minute observation.
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   Syn: Little; diminutive; fine; critical; exact;
        circumstantial; particular; detailed.

   Usage: Minute, Circumstantial, Particular. A
          circumstantial account embraces all the leading
          events; a particular account includes each event and
          movement, though of but little importance; a minute
          account goes further still, and omits nothing as to
          person, time, place, adjuncts, etc.
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MINUTE, measures. In divisions of the circle or angular measures, a minute 
is equal to sixty seconds, or one sixtieth part of a degree. 
     2. In the computation of time, a minute is equal to sixty seconds, or 
the sixtieth part of an hour. Vide Measure. 

MINUTE, practice. A memorandum of what takes place in court; made by 
authority of the court. From these minutes the record is afterwards made up. 
     2. Toullier says, they are so called because the writing in which they 
were originally, was small, that the word is derived, from the Latin minuta, 
(scriptura) in opposition to copies which were delivered to the parties, and 
which were always written in a larger hand. 8 Toull. n. 413. 
     3. Minutes are not considered as any part of the record. 1 Ohio R. 268. 
See 23 Pick. R. 184.