| 释义 |
minute
I. min·ute \ˈminə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V\ noun
(-s)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin minuta minute, 60th part of an hour, brief note, from Late Latin, 60th part of a degree, from Latin, feminine of minutus small — more at minute III
1.
a. : a unit of time equal to the 60th part of an hour and containing 60 seconds
b. : a point or short space of time : moment
< these letters didn't get here a minute too soon — Kenneth Roberts >
< the train will be starting in a minute — Florence Montgomery >
c. : a particular instant of time
< wash … all sieves the minute you are through using them — June Platt >
< my plan is but this minute come into my head — Charles Lamb >
d. : the difference that can be traversed in a minute
< five minutes across the park … are Spanish-speaking slums — Irwin Edman >
2. or minute of arc [Middle English, from Late Latin minuta] : a unit of angular measure equal to the 60th part of a degree and containing 60 seconds of arc
3. [Medieval Latin minuta]
a. : a usually brief note of instructions, recommendations, or record in the form of an annotation on an existing document or of a separate memorandum
b. : an official memorandum drafted (as by an individual or a governmental agency) usually to authorize or recommend a course of action or to analyze a particular situation
< the position of civil servants … was previously regulated by a Treasury minute — T.E.May >
< the governor … forwarded a ministerial minute, expressing alarm — Ethel Drus >
< the whole question was reviewed … in a masterly minute by the Viceroy — L.J.L.Dundas >
c.
(1) : a brief summary of events or transactions
< began to take their sense in minute as right as I could — W.S.Perry >
< unity of judgment enough to warrant a minute of conclusion — Rufus Jones >
(2) minutes plural : a series of brief notes taken to provide a record of proceedings (as of an assembly or conference) or of transactions (as of the directors of a corporation); specifically : an official record composed of such notes
< the minutes of the … conference are not available to the public — Vera M. Dean >
< a complete copy of the minutes of the … presbytery — American Guide Series: Tennessee >
d. : a rough draft usually constituting a preliminary stage of a more elaborate project
< the minute of a letter … was submitted to the ambassador — J.L.Motley >
e.
(1) : a written statement addressed to a court under Scots law referring to some interlocutory matter (as a defect in pleading or a point of law)
(2) : an answer to such a statement embodying the court's order and the grounds of the order
4. [Late Latin minutum, from Latin, neuter of minutus small] obsolete : a very small or insignificant thing : a minute detail
5. : a fixed part (as 1/12, 1/18, 1/30, 1/60) of a module
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- up to the minute
II. minute transitive verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
1. : to determine to the minute : ascertain or note exactly the time, speed, or duration of : time
< minuted the speed of the train — Samuel Smiles >
2.
a. : to write (something) in or in the form of a minute
< the Empress … minuted an edict for universal tolerance — George Bancroft >
b. : to make a note (as of instructions, comment, or record) on
< minute a dispatch >
c. : to make notes or a brief summary of : record in the form of minutes
< in conversations … duly minuted on both sides — M.O.Hudson >
< minutes the proceedings of the meeting — James Bryce >
III. mi·nute \(ˈ)mī|n(y)üt, mə̇ˈn-, usu -üd.+V\ adjective
(usually -er/-est)
Etymology: Latin minutus small, minute, past participle of minuere to lessen — more at minor
1. : very small in size : tiny, infinitesimal
< two minute, whiplike threads of protoplasm — W.E.Swinton >
< irrigation … could be applied only to minute areas — P.E.James >
< minute amounts of … impurities are introduced into chemically pure silicon — Wall Street Journal >
2. : of very small importance or consequence : trifling, petty
< the law … may extend to the minutest phases of the life of the individual — C.L.Jones >
< small-scale … almost one might say minute capitalists — J.H.Plumb >
< explaining all the minute happenings of the ranch — Mary Austin >
3. : marked by close attention to and meticulous exactness in the treatment of very small parts or details
< made a minute scientific examination of the bullets — W.H.Wright >
< the land is … cultivated with minute care — Owen & Eleanor Lattimore >
< a division in the tapestry so artfully constructed as to defy the minutest inspection — Jane Austen >
Synonyms: see circumstantial, small |