| 释义 |
▪ I. minute, n.1|ˈmɪnɪt|
Forms: 4 mynut, 4–6 mynute, 4–7 minut, 5 mynwt, mynnate, 6 mynite, -ewte, -iute, Sc. minuth, munet, -it, 6–8 mynuit, 7 min-, mynutte, minit, minnite, 4– minute.
[In senses 1–3 and 6 a. F. minute fem. (whence G. minute, Du. minuut), ad. L. minūta, subst. use of the fem. of minūtus minute a. In senses 4 and 5 ad. L. minūtum (the neuter of the same adj.) used subst. in various applications in late Latin. Sp., Pg. and It. have minuto masc. (ad. L. minutum) in senses 1–3, but minuta (after Fr.) in sense 6.
Senses 1–2 (whence sense 3 is derived) represent the med.L. minuta, more fully pars minuta prima, denoting the 1/60 of a unit in the system of sexagesimal fractions (med.L. minutiæ physicæ), which, originally derived from Babylon, was used, like the modern decimals in scientific calculations as more easy to handle than ‘vulgar fractions’ (minutiæ simply). The lower denominations of the system were (partes minutæ) secundæ (our ‘seconds’), tertiæ, quartæ, etc., the understood denominators being the successive powers of 60. The system (ὁ τῆς ἑξηκοντάδος τρόπος) was recognized by Ptolemy (c 150 a.d.), who applied it to the degree (µοῖρα) of the circle, to the sixty sections into which he divided the radius, and to the day; the application of the system to the division of the hour is much later, perhaps not earlier than the 13th c. Ptolemy has no terms corresponding to the med.L. minutæ, secundæ, etc., but merely uses µέρος ‘part’ or ἑξηκοστόν ‘sixtieth’. The word minuta is referred to as a term of the ‘mathematici’ (app. meaning ‘minute’ of the circle) by St. Augustine De diversis Quæstt. octoginta tribus xlv, who also mentions minutæ minutarum, ‘minutes of minutes’ (see 2), i.e. seconds.
Sense 6 is from F. minute, though Littré has no example before 16th c., and the one quot. for med.L. minuta in this use is of date c 1500. The primary notion seems to be that of a rough copy in small writing (L. scriptura minuta) as distinguished from the ‘engrossed’ document.]
I. A sixtieth (or other definite part) of a unit.
1. a. The sixtieth part of an hour (divided into sixty seconds). In earlier use frequently † minute of an hour, † minute while. Also, one of the lines upon a dial which mark the minute spaces.
The minutum of early mediæval writers, which was one-tenth of an hour, has no historical connexion with this. For the system of time-reckoning to which it belongs, see atom n. 7.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 372 He miȝte amende in a Minute while al þat mys standeth. Ibid. xvii. 228 Ysekeles in eueses þorw hete of þe sonne, Melteth in a mynut while to myst & to watre. 1390Gower Conf. II. 9 For the lachesse Of half a Minut of an houre [= L. unius momenti tardacione]..He loste all that he hadde do. a1485Promp. Parv. 338/2 (MSS. K., S.) Minute of an howur, minuta. 1552Lyndesay Monarche 6014 The small Minuth of one hour To thame salbe so gret dolour, Thay sall thynk thay haif done remane Ane thousand yeir in to that pane. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 797 Now at the latest minute of the houre, Grant vs your loues. 1591― 1 Hen. VI, i. iv. 54 Wherefore a guard of chosen Shot I had, That walkt about me euery Minute while. 1603Owen Pembrokeshire i. (1892) 1 Our longest sommers daies must be of xvii houres and fortie three mynuttes longe. 1684R. Waller Nat. Exper. 9 From 35, to 50 Drops [sc. of moist particles] have fallen in a Minute of an Hour. 1702Lond. Gaz. No. 3844/1 The Great Guns were fired at a Minute's distance. 1817T. L. Peacock Nightm. Abbey xv, The hour-hand passed the vii.—the minute-hand moved on;—it was within three minutes of the appointed time. 1843Penny Cycl. XXVII. 107/1 There are other repeaters which also strike the minutes.
b. Vaguely used for: A short space of time; also, a point of time, an instant, moment. Also in phr. up to the minute, completely modern.
1390Gower Conf. III. 77 Every houre apointeth so, That no mynut therof was lore. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy (E.E.T.S.) 2817 Þe cok..of þe tyme a mynute wil not passe To warnen hem þat weren in þe place, Of þe tydes and sesoun of þe nyȝt. c1485Digby Myst. iv. 518, I myght not leve, nor endure On mynnate, bot I am sure The third day ryse shall hee. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. ii. 112 Content with Hermia? No, I do repent The tedious minutes I with her haue spent. c1600― Sonn. xiv, Nor can I fortune to breefe mynuits tell; Pointing to each his thunder raine and winde. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 80, I could not expect to find them at a minutes call. 1736Ainsworth Lat. Dict., A minute [moment or instant], momentum, punctum temporis. 1795tr. C. P. Moritz's Trav. 93 Composing a sermon..should not thus have been put off to the last minute. 1800Lamb Let. to Manning 5 Oct., I have barely time to finish, as I expect her and Robin every minute. 1871R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxvii. 38 You, from your owner's gate never a minute away? 1898F. Montgomery Tony 13 The train will be starting in a minute. 1913Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Dec. 9/2 Look at your Christmas shopping in this light... Don't put it off until the last minute. 1920F. M. Ford Let. 27 July (1965) 117 Does ‘for a minute’ = ‘at present’? or that you wouldn't think for a minute of knowing our establishment? 1937A. J. Cronin Citadel ix. 75 Doctor! I think you'd be interested in our new indexometer. It has a multiplicity of uses, is absolutely up to the minute..and the price is only two guineas. 1955R. Macaulay Last Lett. to Friend (1962) 208 Having the two children made it fun; they loved every minute of it. 1956E. S. Gardner D. A. takes Chance iii. 24 A very attractive young woman, vivacious, up to the minute, a thoroughly modern young woman. 1958Spectator 22 Aug. 249/1 These ought to be worth a trial to give ballet that shake-up it badly needs. Not merely for Art's sake, but, any minute now, for the sake of the box office. 1972Daily Tel. 26 Aug. 20/4 A good atmosphere helps me to do my best, and while at the minute it doesn't feel like an Olympic Games, I think I can psych myself up when the time comes.
c. A particular instant of time; also occas. the appointed or fitting moment. the minute (that)..: as soon as.
1598Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 1 The Windsor-bell hath stroke twelue: the Minute drawes-on. a1640Carew To A. L. 70 O love me, then, and now begin it, Let us not lose this present minute. a1721J. Keill Maupertius' Diss. (1734) 15 The Minute we recur to an Almighty Agent,..it should be said that such Laws imply a Contradiction. a1745Swift Direct. Serv., Gen. Wks. 1751 XIV. 11 He had but just that Minute stept out. 1799Lamb Let. to Southey 20 Mar., My plan is but this minute come into my head. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede i, I can't abide to see men throw away their tools i' that way the minute the clock begins to strike.
d. A distance expressed in the number of minutes needed for it to be traversed (on foot, etc.).
1886Taunt's New Map Thames (ed. 5) Advts. 45 Hotel..Adjoining the River, 3 minutes from Railway Station. 1907Daily Chron. 18 Sept. 3/7 (Advt.), St. Pancras Station..is within a few minutes of the City. 1922Joyce Ulysses 224 Can you send them by tram? Now?..—Certainly, sir. Is it in the city? —O, yes... Ten minutes. 1931R. Campbell Georgiad i. 17 Up-to-date methods: breezy situation: And only twenty minutes from the station. 1934G. B. Shaw On Rocks i. 203 The Isle of Cats... Down the river, Sir Arthur. Twenty minutes from your door by underground. 1962J. G. Bennett Witness vii. 86, I went to his apartment, a few minutes from where we lived.
2. Geom. (Astr., Geog., etc.) The sixtieth part of a degree. † minute of a minute: the sixtieth of a minute, a second.
The sign for minutes is ′, thus 5° 8′ = five degrees eight minutes.
c1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §8 A degree of a signe contieneth 60 minutes. 1549Compl. Scot. vi. 50 The circle artic is xxiij degreis xxx munitis fra the pole artic. 1603Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 1 Longitude 17 degrees, and 20 minuttes west. Ibid., 52 degrees which is 40 mynuttes higher then that of the Cittie of London. 1652Gaule Magastrom. 68 Those numbers and minutes, yea numbers of numbers and minutes of minutes (which Astrologicall Mathematicians pretend to work by). 1755B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. i. x. 58 Each Degree is supposed to consist of 60 Minutes, thus marked (′). 1862Bache Discuss. Magn. & Meteorol. Observ. ii. 9 The scale divisions have been converted into minutes of arc.
3. a. Arch. The sixtieth or occas. some other part of the module. ? Obs.
1696in Phillips. 1727–52Chambers Cycl., Minute, in architecture, usually denotes the sixtieth, sometimes only the thirtieth part, or division of a module. [In recent Dicts.]
b. Art. A unit of a scale of head measurement by which the proportions of the face may be regulated or defined; the forty-eighth part of the height of the human head. [So F. minute.]
1875T. Seaton Fret Cutting 132 Draw a line corresponding to the line within the oval, and divide this also into four equal parts. One of these parts must be subdivided into twelve parts, these are called minutes. Ibid. 133 The length of a head—from forehead to back—in a full-grown person, is three parts eight minutes for a man, and three parts eleven minutes for a woman.
II. Something small.
†4. A coin of trifling value; a ‘mite’. Obs.
1382Wyclif Mark xii. 42 Tweye mynutis [Vulg. duo minuta, Gr. λεπτὰ δύο], that is, a ferthing. 1543Becon Nosegay Ded. B j b, Yet let vs with the poore widowe of the Gospell at the leest gyue two minutes. 1589J. Rider Bibl. Schol., A Minute or Q, which is halfe a farthing, minutum.
†5. Something minute or small.
a. pl. Little fishes, ‘small fry’ (cf. menise).
b. A small particular, a detail; a minutia.
c. Something of small size or slight importance. Obs.
1598Florio, Pesciolini, all manner of minutes, frye, or small fishes. 1626B. Jonson Staple of N. i. v. 138 Let me heare from thee euery minute of Newes. a1628F. Grevil Sidney (1652) 90 That Heroicall design..how exactly soever projected, and digested in every minute. ― Alaham ii. Chorus ii. (1633) 39 When I propound in grosse, you minutes play. 1647Jer. Taylor Lib. Proph. xvi. 213 And such are all the sects and all the pretences of Christians, but pieces and minutes of Christianity. 1654― Real Pres. 238 They have made it to be unintelligible, inexplicable, indefensible, in all their minuits and particularities. a1660Hammond Serm. (Prov. i. 22) (1664) 46 The last minute of my last particular. a1670[see migniardize].
III. 6. a. A rough draft (of something to be further elaborated); a note or memorandum for the direction of an agent or servant, or for preserving the memory of current transactions or events; a brief summary of events or transactions, esp. (usually pl.) the record of the proceedings at a meeting of an assembly, corporate body, society, company, committee, or the like. † in minute: in the form of a minute or minutes. minute of dissent, a minute recording a person's disagreement with something.
1502in Lett. & Papers Rich. III & Hen. VII (Rolls) I. 147 He received a mynite of instructions. 1522Clerk in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 314 The Pope..caused it [the mynute] to be staied, and an other minute to be made which was not sped bifor his death. 1531Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 340, I haue sent herein Inclosed the Mynewte with your Instruccions. 1640–1Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 37 Ordaines James, the next Committie day, to produce the said minute of contract. 1682Evelyn in Pepys' Diary, etc. (1879) VI. 140 These were only minutes relating to ampler pieces. 1697in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Col. Ch. I. 52, I began to take their sense in minute as right as I could. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 276 To him are added in the House of Commons also scribes or secretaryes which record and take minutes also. 1713Pope Guard. No. 92 ⁋8 It is my business whenever we meet to take minutes of the transactions. 1728Morgan Algiers II. v. 316, I some where said my memory was treacherous; nor do I ever keep minutes. 1741Middleton Cicero I. vi. 511 It was his custom to keep the minutes or rough draught of all his pleadings. 1771P. Parsons Newmarket II. 187 My paper of heads or minutes perished in a different manner. 1776in Archæol. (1789) IX. 365 That such curious communications..be extracted from the Minutes of the Society, and formed into an Historical Memoir. 1827Scott Surg. Dau. i, Lawford drew up a proper minute of this transaction, by which he himself and Grey were named trustees for the child. 1851Dickens Bill-sticking in Househ. Words II. 605 These are the minutes of my conversation with His Majesty, as I noted them down shortly afterwards. 1860Motley Netherl. vii. (1868) I. 409 The minute of a letter to Elizabeth..was submitted to the ambassador. 1876Grant Burgh Sch. Scotl. Pref. 8 The minutes of his town council. 1886Kipling Departm. Ditties (ed. 2) 23 No longer Brown reverses Smith's appeals, Or Jones records his Minute of Dissent. 1890Gross Gild Merch. I. 149 The minutes of both Companies were kept in the same book. 1930Times 15 Mar. 7/1 All the members have signed the report, but Lord Ebbisham did so subject to a ‘minute of dissent’ which is attached to the main report.
b. An official memorandum authorizing or recommending the pursuance of a certain course. treasury minute: a minute or memorandum issued by the treasury.
1564Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 301 In terms of minute 27th November. 1783Burke On Fox's East Ind. Bill Wks. IV. 75 In his minute of consultation, Mr. Hastings describes forcibly the consequences which arise [etc.]. 1798Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) I. 9 A very able minute in the Secret department. 1817Tierney in Parl. Deb. 768 That committee, by a Treasury minute of the 5th of April, 1816, was required to examine and report what offices had been created since the year 1793. 1845McCulloch Taxation ii. v. (1852) 230 This fraudulent practice has been indirectly legitimated by a Treasury Minute of the 4th of August, 1840. 1863H. Cox Instit. i. v. 29 The Bank of England..was directed to suspend cash payments by a Minute of Council. 1880Gen. Adye in 19th Cent. No. 38. 694 Lord Napier..in a masterly minute pointed out the various evils of the whole system.
†c. An agreement, precise understanding. Obs.
1720Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 519 At Edinburgh I have come to a minute with the printer.
d. Sc. Law. A memorandum of intention presented to the court by a party to a suit.
1848Shand Pract. Crt. Sess. I. 343 note, A minute of abandonment of the cause, in such form as the following, is put into process. 1904Dundee Advertiser 19 Nov. 7 Yesterday a minute was lodged in the Bill Chamber of the Court of Session stating that no answers are to be lodged to the note by the Free Church [etc.].
IV.
7. attrib. and Comb., as minute bell, the tolling of a bell at intervals of a minute, used as a sign of mourning or distress; minute-book, † (a) a ‘book of short hints’ (J.); (b) a book containing systematic records of the transactions of a society, court, or the like; minute clock, a stop clock used in making tests of gas (Knight Dict. Mech. 1884); minute-flourish, a fanfare of trumpets sounded minute by minute; minute-glass, a sand-glass that runs for a minute; minute-gun, the firing of a gun at intervals of a minute, used as a sign of mourning or distress (also attrib.); minute-hand, the long hand of a time-piece which indicates the minutes; † minute-jack (? cf. jack n.1 6), one who changes his mind every moment, a fickle or changeable person; minute jumper, an electric clock in which the hands move only at the end of each minute, the minute-hand moving over a whole minute at each step (Cent. Dict. 1890); † minute-line Naut., a log-line; minute-lust, momentary desire; minute mile (see quot. 1867); † minute-motion, the mechanism of the seconds hand of a watch; minute-repeater, a watch which ‘repeats’ the minutes; minute space, the duration of a minute; minute steak (see quot. 1934); minute stroke, the measured ‘minutely’ stroke of an oar; minute tide, (a) = minute while (see sense 1); (b) (see quot. 1865); minute-to-minute attrib., from one minute to the next; † minute-watch, a watch that distinguishes minutes of time or on the dial of which minutes are marked (also † minute pendulum watch); minute-wheel, the wheel that moves the minute-hand of a clock or watch; hence minute-wheel nut, pinion (see quot. 1884); † minute while (see sense 1); minute-writing, the art or practice of recording minutes or administrative memoranda. Also minuteman.
1827Keble Chr. Y., 1st Sunday Advent xii, Faith's ear, with awful still delight, Counts them like *minute bells at night.
1736Ainsworth Lat. Dict., A *minute book, liber vel libellus memorialis. 1772Ann. Reg. 66* The minute-book of recognizances belonging to the Lord Mayor's court. 1838Act 1 & 2 Vict. c. 118 §22 The Minute Book of the Court of Session and Teind Court. 1904Athenæum 24 Dec. 881/2 A ‘History of the Society of Apothecaries’,..compiled from the Minute-Books of the Society.
1802Mrs. Radcliffe Gaston de Blondev. Posth. Wks. 1826 I. 87 The trumpets, that charged so loud and shrill their *minet-flourishes.
1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 29 Turne vp the *minute glasse, obserue the hight. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 480 Minute and Half-minute glasses.
1728G. Carleton Mem. Eng. Officer 205 The first Guns that were fir'd from Gorge's battery were the *Minute-Guns for his Funeral. 1747Gentl. Mag. XVII. 246/1 Minute guns were fired by the whole squadron. 1884Times (Weekly ed.) 11 Apr. 2/3 The boom of the minute guns on the hill beyond could be heard above the funeral music of the bands. 1936H. Nicolson Diary 28 Jan. (1966) 241 The King's funeral. I stay in..all morning and do not hear more than the minute-guns firing dolefully in the distance. 1970Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable (rev. ed.) 714/2 A Minute gun, a signal of distress at sea, or a gun fired at the death of some distinguished person.
1726Swift Gulliver i. ii, He was amazed at..the Motion of the *Minute-Hand, which he could easily discern. 1892E. Reeves Homeward Bound 184 Clock faces marking six, twelve, and twenty-four hours, mostly without minute hands.
1607Shakes. Timon iii. vi. 107 Cap and knee-Slaues, vapours, and *Minute Iackes.
1644*Minut-line [see log-line in log n.1 9]. 1696Phillips, Log-line or Minute-line.
1635Quarles Embl. ii. xi. 106 The fleshly wanton, to obtaine His *minit-lust, will count it gaine To lose his freedome.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Minute mile, the sixtieth part of a degree of longitude or latitude.
1684T. Burnet Th. Earth ii. iv. 210 In a Watch,..you may have a fancy to have an Alarum added, or a *Minute-motion.
1843Penny Cycl. XXVII. 107/1 These by way of distinction are called *minute-repeaters.
1621Wither Motto A 8, I haue not of my selfe, the powre, or grace, To be, or not to be; one *minute-space.
1934Webster, *Minute steak, a small thin steak that can be quickly cooked. 1959Good Food Guide 204 The grills..range from 6/6 (minute steak) to 9/6 (mixed grill, including vegetables). 1966Listener 27 Jan. 134/3 The minute steak is the gastronomic symbol of the age.
1833Marryat P. Simple xxx, The crew dropped their oars into the water without a splash, and pulled the *minute stroke.
14..Ryman Poems in Archiv. Stud. neu. Spr. LXXXIX. 255 This lyfe vnto celestiall Is but a *mynute tyde. 1865Macgregor Rob Roy in Baltic (1867) 163 This is called the ‘minute tide’, in which a swelling of the water once every minute fills up and empties again a quiet pool a little withdrawn from the river's course.
1948‘G. Orwell’ in Adelphi XXIV. 249/2 One ought, apparently, to live in a continuous present, a *minute-to-minute cancellation of memory. 1968G. M. B. Dobson Exploring Atmosphere (ed. 2) v. 105 In practice certain precautions have to be taken to allow for the minute-to-minute changes in the general electric field.
1660Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xi. 79 A *Minute-Watch we kept by us on this occasion. 1705Daily Courant 5 Sept., Dropt in St. James's Park, September the 3rd, 1705, a Gold Minuit Pendulum Watch, &c.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) V. 74/2 The minute and hour hands turn on the end of the arbor of the *minute-wheel. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 177 [The] Minute Wheel Pinion, or ‘Nut’..[is] the pinion in the motion work of watches that drives the hour wheel.
1895Daily News 10 Sept. 5/4 An Under-Secretary, trained in a bureaucracy where *minute-writing has been brought to the highest pitch of perfection.
▪ II. † minute, n.2 Law. Obs.
[ad. Law Latin minūta, vbl. noun f. minuĕre to diminish.]
= minishing.
1495Rolls of Parlt. VI. 501/1 Of the Ferme of all Asartis, Wastes, Purpresture and minutez, of the parcelles of the Forest.
▪ III. minute, a.|mɪˈnjuːt, maɪˈnjuːt|
Also 5–6 mynute.
[ad. L. minūt-us (whence F. menu small), pa. pple. of minuĕre to make small, diminish.]
†1. Chopped small. Obs. rare.
c1420Pallad. on Husb. iv. 492 Hem summe in cedur scobe, & summe in stre Mynute, and summe in smal chaf, wel witholde.
†2. Of imposts, etc.: Lesser; esp. in minute tithes = ‘small tithes’. Obs.
[1464Rolls of Parlt. V. 569/1 Sume ferme by the name of the Manent' firme com' post terras dat'..and sume under the name of minute firme to you.] 1542–3Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 16 §1 The fermes of diuers purprestures, assertes, sergeantes, & minute rentes. 1546in Eng. Gilds (1870) 222 The preste..hathe the mynute tythes of the village of Bysshopton. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. iv. §38 The Dependence of the Church,..(except their minute Tythes) was entirely upon this Law. 1696Phillips, Minute Tithes, small Tithes, such as usually belong to the Vicar; as Wooll, Lambs, Piggs, Butter, Cheese, Eggs, Honey, &c.
3. Very small in size, extent, amount, or degree.
In the 17th and 18th centuries the comparative minuter frequently acquires the sense ‘smaller or more insignificant than another’, without the implication of extreme smallness.
a1626Bacon New Atl. 40 Wee haue also Glasses and Meanes, to see Small and Minute Bodies, perfectly and distinctly. 1665Phil. Trans. I. 31 An Instrument to shew all the Minute Variations in the pressure of the Air. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 39 Those [chapels] of a minuter dimension were open. 1699Pomfret Cruelty & Lust 79 Suppose the Accusation justly brought, And clearly prov'd to the minutest fault. 1713Derham Phys.-Theol. iv. ii. 106 One single Minutest Thread or Fibre. 1742Young Nt. Th. vi. 690 With this minute distinction,..Nature revolves, but man advances. 1748Anson's Voy. i. v. 43 The neighbouring coast, and the minuter isles adjacent. Ibid. ii. x. 237 Vast quantities of..callicoes and chints,..together with other minuter articles, as goldsmiths work, etc. 1816Bentham Chrestom. 24 The distance in question is so minute as to be incapable of measurement. 1832Babbage Econ. Manuf. (ed. 3) 83 The minuter cavities can only be filled under an exhausted receiver. 1867H. Macmillan Bible Teach. vi. (1870) 118 The seed vessels in this plant are exceedingly minute. 1871Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. i. 23 What is true of the earth..is also true of her minutest atom. 1880Geikie Phys. Geog. ii. 57 It is possible to measure very minute changes of temperature.
4. Of very little consequence or importance; trifling, petty.
Minute philosopher is an echo of Cicero's quidam minuti philosophi (De Senect. xxiii, also De Div. i. xxx), where the adj. appears to have this sense, though in Eng. use it is sometimes apprehended as if belonging to sense 5.
c1650Denham Old Age iv. 249 Some minute Philosophers pretend, That with our dayes our pains and pleasures end. 1668Wilkins Real Char. To Rdr., If any shall suggest that some of the Enquiries here insisted upon..do seem too minute and trivial, for any prudent Man to bestow his serious thoughts and time about. Such Persons may know [etc.]. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. i. §10 These minute philosophers..are a sort of pirates who plunder all that come in their way. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. ix. 396 The Mandarine..returned all that had been stolen..even to the minutest trifle. 1772Burke Corr. (1844) I. 377 Your grace dissipates your mind into too great a variety of minute pursuits. 1872W. Minto Eng. Prose Lit. ii. iii. 279 As Lord Chancellor,..he proved unequal to the minuter duties of the office.
5. Of investigations, regulations, records, etc. (and hence of persons): Characterized by attention to very small matters or details; very precise or particular; very accurate.
168.Aubrey Lives, Hobbes To Rdr. (1813) I. 594 For that I am so minute, I declare I never intended it [etc.]. 1716Addison Freeholder No. 42 ⁋14 We cannot be too minute and circumstantial in accounts of this nature. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 86 ⁋5 He knew with how minute Attention the ancient Criticks considered the Disposition of Syllables. 1788Reid Aristotle's Log. iv. ii. 71 He is more full, more minute and particular than any of them. 1799Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) I. 25 His minute private diary. 1807T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 383 A very minute and accurate series of experiments. 1833H. Martineau Brooke Farm i. 10 A reporter as faithful as he was minute. 1864Pusey Lect. Daniel (1876) 376 A minute, natural, accurate, history. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 96 Minute regulations are apt to be transgressed.
▪ IV. minute, v.|ˈmɪnɪt|
[f. minute n.1]
1. trans. To ascertain or determine to the minute the time, duration, or rate of; to ‘time’ accurately. Also † to minute out: to assign (time) precisely.
1605Camden Rem. 92 About the yeare of our Lord 1000 (that we may not minute out the time). a1661Fuller Worthies, Suffolk iii. (1662) 62 All Accidents are minuted and momented by Divine Providence. 1762Phil. Trans. LII. 582 The above observations were minuted from a stop-watch of Mr. Ellicott's. 1773G. White Selborne 8 July (1789) 153, I have minuted these birds with my watch for an hour together,..they return..about once in five minutes. 1775Ibid. 1 Nov. 198 A good rush,..being minuted, burnt only three minutes short of an hour. 1784Blagden in Phil. Trans. LXXIV. 217 Scarcely any one had sufficient presence of mind to minute the time by his watch. 1813M. Edgeworth Patron. (1832) I. iii. 42 [They] went to see High Blood rubbed down..exercised and minuted. 1822Beddoes Brides' Trag. ii. iii, Do not minute The movements of the soul. 1825Sporting Mag. XV. 340, I did not minute this run, but..it must have been a trimming one. 1862Smiles Engineers III. 277 Captain Scoresby,..minuted the speed of the train. 1888Temple Bar Jan. 29 The Bishop..sat by with his watch on the table, for he had to minute each interview.
2. a. To draft (a document, a scheme); to record in a minute or memorandum; to enter in the minutes or records of a society, company, or the like; to make a minute of the contents of (a document). to minute down, to make a note of.
a1648Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 48 All which minuted by Louis de Longueville..was at last thus fully concluded. Ibid. 84 The design for the Interview with Francis continued; which being minuted by our Ambassador,..was continued by his successor. 1662Evelyn Chalcogr. 94 It might not seem requisite to minute the works which he has published. 1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4842/3 All such disabled Seamen and Marines as are minuted to be taken into the said Hospital. 1712Addison Spect. No. 439 ⁋3 The Cardinal is represented as minuting down every thing that is told him. 1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric., Observ. 153 note, I minuted it as an extra observation. 1789Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 II. 151 Nothing was concluded [sc. at the next meeting] so as to be minuted. 1836H. Rogers J. Howe v. (1863) 141 His thoughts on this occasion he minuted down. 1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. IV. xxvi. 19 The Empress of Russia with her own hand minuted an edict for universal tolerance. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. ii. xlviii. 228 A Town-clerk, who keeps the records, and minutes the proceedings of the meeting. 1897P. Warung Tales Old Regime 139 Yes, your Excellency. Shall I minute that observation? 1898G. W. E. Russell Coll. & Recoll. xxxiv. 465 The paper..is minuted by each, and..gradually passes up..to the Under-Secretary of State.
absol.1892Ld. Lytton King Poppy i. 351 Whereon His Majesty thus minuted.
b. To inform (someone) about a matter by means of a minute or memorandum.
1918G. S. Gordon Let. 13 Dec. (1943) 87 Milford has minuted me about the Oxford Trivium. 1952Punch 10 Sept. 353 He had minuted General Ismay. 1964M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy v. 174 Lord Cherwell was still minuting Mr Churchill that the British diffusion method was much superior. 1974‘J. Le Carré’ Tinker Tailor xxvi. 221 In no case should I phone him or minute him; even the internal lines were taboo.
3. to minute over: to reckon up, enumerate point by point.
a1770Cath. Talbot Lett. (1808) 60 The most agreeable thought (as I experienced last night when we were minuting over all these things) will be, that it cannot be long [etc.].
4. intr. With by: To pass minute by minute.
a1806H. K. White To Thought v, And count the tedious hours, as slow they minute by.
Hence ˈminuting vbl. n., the recording of minutes; ˈminuting ppl. a., that minutes.
1737J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. iii. (ed. 33) 121 Minuting-clerk to Master General. 1856Dickens Dorrit (1857) ii. viii. 387 The work of form-filling, corresponding, minuting, memorandum-making. 1882London Police Court Rep., Those having the minuteing and the carrying out of the details and business of the Court. |