From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
minute
adj 1: infinitely or immeasurably small; "two minute whiplike
threads of protoplasm"; "reduced to a microscopic
scale" [syn: infinitesimal, microscopic]
2: immeasurably small [syn: atomic, atomlike]
3: characterized by painstaking care and detailed examination;
"a minute inspection of the grounds"; "a narrow scrutiny";
"an exact and minute report" [syn: narrow]
n 1: a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour; "he
ran a 4 minute mile" [syn: min]
2: an indefinitely short time; "wait just a moment"; "it only
takes a minute"; "in just a bit" [syn: moment, second,
bit]
3: a particular point in time; "the moment he arrived the party
began" [syn: moment, second, instant]
4: a unit of angular distance equal to a 60th of a degree [syn:
arcminute, minute of arc]
5: a short note; "the secretary keeps the minutes of the
meeting"
6: distance measured by the time taken to cover it; "we live an
hour from the airport"; "its just 10 minutes away" [syn:
hour]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Minute \Min"ute\, a.
Of or pertaining to a minute or minutes; occurring at or
marking successive minutes.
[1913 Webster]
Minute bell, a bell tolled at intervals of a minute, as to
give notice of a death or a funeral.
Minute book, a book in which written minutes are entered.
Minute glass, a glass measuring a minute or minutes by the
running of sand.
Minute gun, a discharge of a cannon repeated every minute
as a sign of distress or mourning.
Minute hand, the long hand of a watch or clock, which makes
the circuit of the dial in an hour, and marks the minutes.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Minute \Min"ute\ (?; 277), n. [LL. minuta a small portion, small
coin, fr. L. minutus small: cf. F. minute. See 4th Minute.]
[1913 Webster]
1. The sixtieth part of an hour; sixty seconds. (Abbrev. m.
or min.; as, 4 h. 30 m.)
[1913 Webster]
Four minutes, that is to say, minutes of an hour.
--Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
2. The sixtieth part of a degree; sixty seconds (Marked thus
('); as, 10[deg] 20').
[1913 Webster]
3. A nautical or a geographic mile.
[1913 Webster]
4. A coin; a half farthing. [Obs.] --Wyclif (Mark xii. 42)
[1913 Webster]
5. A very small part of anything, or anything very small; a
jot; a tittle. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Minutes and circumstances of his passion. --Jer.
Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
6. A point of time; a moment.
[1913 Webster]
I go this minute to attend the king. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
7. pl. The memorandum; a record; a note to preserve the
memory of anything; as, to take minutes of a contract; to
take minutes of a conversation or debate; to read the
minutes of the last meeting.
[1913 Webster]
8. (Arch.) A fixed part of a module. See Module.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Different writers take as the minute one twelfth, one
eighteenth, one thirtieth, or one sixtieth part of the
module.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Minute \Min"ute\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Minuted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Minuting.]
To set down a short sketch or note of; to jot down; to make a
minute or a brief summary of.
[1913 Webster]
The Empress of Russia, with her own hand, minuted an
edict for universal tolerance. --Bancroft.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Minute \Mi*nute"\ (m[imac]*n[=u]t" or m[i^]*n[=u]t"), a. [L.
minutus, p. p. of minuere to lessen. See Minish, Minor,
and cf. Menu, Minuet.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Very small; little; tiny; fine; slight; slender;
inconsiderable; as, minute details. "Minute drops."
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Attentive to small things; paying attention to details;
critical; particular; precise; as, a minute observer;
minute observation.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Little; diminutive; fine; critical; exact;
circumstantial; particular; detailed.
Usage: Minute, Circumstantial, Particular. A
circumstantial account embraces all the leading
events; a particular account includes each event and
movement, though of but little importance; a minute
account goes further still, and omits nothing as to
person, time, place, adjuncts, etc.
[1913 Webster]