Different writers take as the minute one twelfth, one eighteenth, one
thirtieth, or one sixtieth part of the module.
Min"ute, a. Of or pertaining to a minute or minutes; occurring at or
marking successive minutes.
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.
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.
The Empress of Russia, with her own hand, minuted an edict for
universal tolerance.
Bancroft.
Mi*nute" (?), a. [L. minutus, p. p. of minuere to lessen. See Minish,
Minor, and cf. Menu, Minuet.]
1. Very small; little; tiny; fine; slight; slender; inconsiderable.
"Minute drops." Milton.
2. Attentive to small things; paying attention to details; critical;
particular; precise; as, a minute observer; minute observation.
Syn. -- Little; diminutive; fine; critical; exact; circumstantial;
particular; detailed. -- 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.
Mi*nute"-jack` (?), n. 1. A figure which strikes the hour on the bell
of some fanciful clocks; -- called also jack of the clock house.