minute

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
minute1 /ˈmɪnɪt/

▶noun

• 1 a period of time equal to sixty seconds or a sixtieth of an hour.

  ■ informal a very short time.

• 2 (also arc minute or minute of arc) a sixtieth of a degree of angular measurement. (Symbol: ′)

– phrases
up to the minute incorporating the very latest information or developments.

– origin ME: via OFr. from late L. minuta, fem. (used as n.) of minutus ‘made small’; the senses ‘period of sixty seconds’ and ‘sixtieth of a degree’ derive from med. L. pars minuta prima ‘first minute part’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
minute2 /mʌɪˈnjuːt/

▶adjective (minutest)

• 1 extremely small.

• 2 precise and meticulous: a minute examination.

– derivatives
minutely adverb,
minuteness noun.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘lesser’, with ref. to a tithe or tax): from L. minutus ‘lessened’, past part. of minuere.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
minute3 /ˈmɪnɪt/

▶noun

• 1 (minutes) a summarized record of the points discussed at a meeting.

• 2 an official memorandum.

▶verb

• 1 record or note (the points discussed at a meeting).

• 2 send (someone) a minute.

– origin ME: from Fr. minute, from the notion of a rough copy in ‘small writing’ (L. scriptura minuta).