English
minute
Minute comes from Middle English mynute, from Old French minute, from Medieval Latin minūta ‘60th of an hour’, from Latin minūtus ‘small’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘small’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*minuō‘to lessen’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminuō‘to diminish’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEminūtus‘small’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500minūta‘60th of an hour; note’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400minute
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mynute
- Englishearliest quotation 1660minute
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘small’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*minuō‘to lessen’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminuō‘to diminish’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEminūtus‘small’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500minūta‘60th of an hour; note’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400minute
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mynute
- Englishearliest quotation 1660minute
Earliest quotation: 1660, Jeremy Taylor, Of the Probable or Thinking Conscience.: “[…]according to the Prophecies of him, which were so…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘small, little’
mean, community, common, met, commission, communication, mess, meal, communist, immune, mere, commit, communicate, mutual, compromise, missile, ammunition, immunity, communism, min, municipality, communal, mole, dismiss, premise, communion, mural, ammo, mayhem, noodle, moor, commune, remuneration, minus, intermittent, monolith, omit, meiosis, communiqué, mite, 73 more
through Proto-Italic *minuō ‘to lessen, make smaller’
minister, ministry, minor, 9 more
through Latin minuō ‘diminish’
through Medieval Latin minūtus ‘60th of an hour’
Another origin of minute
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘small, little’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*minuō‘to lessen, make smaller’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminuō‘make smaller’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEminūtus‘small", "petty’perfect passive participle of minuō
- Englishtodayminute
Today it means
noun A unit of time which is one sixtieth of an hour (sixty seconds).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mey- / minute