Etymograph

English

minute

Minute comes from Middle English mynute, from Old French minute, from Medieval Latin minūta ‘60th of an hour’, from Latin minūtus ‘small’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-1‘small’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*minuō1‘to lessen’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminuō2‘to diminish’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminūtus3‘small’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500minūta3‘60th of an hour; note’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400minute3
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mynute3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1660minute3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin minuo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin minutus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English minute
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1660, Jeremy Taylor, Of the Probable or Thinking Conscience.: “[…]according to the Prophecies of him, which were so…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-Wiktionary, Latin minuo‘small’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*minuōWiktionary, Latin minuo‘to lessen’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminuōWiktionary, Latin minutus‘to diminish’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminūtusWiktionary, English minute‘small’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500minūtaWiktionary, English minute‘60th of an hour; note’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400minuteWiktionary, English minute
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mynuteWiktionary, English minute
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1660minuteWiktionary, English minute. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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, mite, munition, 71 more

through Proto-Italic *minuō ‘to lessen, make smaller’

minister, ministry, minor, 9 more

through Latin minuō ‘diminish’

menudo, 6 more

through Medieval Latin minūtus ‘60th of an hour’

menu, minuet, 3 more

Another origin of minute

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘small, little’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*minuō‘to lessen, make smaller’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminuō‘make smaller’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminūtus‘small", "petty’perfect passive participle of minuō
  5. Englishtodayminute

Today it means

noun A unit of time which is one sixtieth of an hour (sixty seconds).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “minute”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin minuo, Latin minutus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mey- / minute

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