Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Minute
Min′ute
(?; 277)
, Noun.
 1. 
The sixtieth part of an hour; sixty seconds. (Abbrev. 
m. 
or min.
; as, 4 h. 30 
) m.
Four 
minutes
, that is to say, minutes 
of an hour. Chaucer.
2. 
The sixtieth part of a degree; sixty seconds (Marked thus (´); 
as, 10° 20´
). 3. 
A nautical or a geographic mile. 
4. 
A coin; a half farthing. 
[Obs.] 
Wyclif (Mark xii. 42)
 5. 
A very small part of anything, or anything very small; a jot; a tittle. 
[Obs.] 
Minutes 
and circumstances of his passion. Jer. Taylor.
6. 
A point of time; a moment. 
I go this 
minute 
to attend the king. Dryden.
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.8. 
(Arch.) 
A fixed part of a module. See 
Module
. ☞ Different writers take as the minute one twelfth, one eighteenth, one thirtieth, or one sixtieth part of the module. 
 Min′ute
,Adj.
 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.
 Mi-nute′
(mī-nūt′ or mĭ-nūt′)
, Adj.
 1. 
Very small; little; tiny; fine; slight; slender; inconsiderable; 
“Minute drops.” as, 
. minute 
detailsMilton.
 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. Webster 1828 Edition
Minute
MINU'TE
,Adj.
 1.
  Very small,little or slender; of very small bulk or size; small in consequence; as a minute grain of sand; a minute filament.  The blood circulates through very minute vessels.  Minute divisions of a subject often perplex the understanding.  Minute details are tedious.2.
  Attending to small things; critical; as minute observation.