minutia

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin minutia, from minūtus (“small, little”), from minuō (“make smaller”). By surface analysis, minute +‎ -ia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maɪ̯ˈn(j)uːʃ(iː)ə/, /məˈn(j)uːʃ(iː)ə/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mi‧nu‧ti‧a

Noun

minutia (plural minutiae or (obsolete) minutiæ)

2. A minor detail, often of negligible importance.

   They spent all their time on minutiae, never making real progress.

   • 1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, 2nd edition, volume I, London: T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, published 1768, page 159:

     I think I can ſee the preciſe and diſtinguiſhing marks of national characters more in theſe nonſenſical minutiæ, than in the moſt important matters of ſtate ; where great men of all nations talk and ſtalk ſo much alike, that I would not give ninepence to chuſe amongſt them.

4. (biometrics, forensics) Any of the point features on fingerprints used for matching, usually endings and bifurcations of ridges.

Derived terms

• minutiose

Translations

minor detail — see also detail,‎ triviality,‎ smallness

• Catalan: minúcia f, minuciositat f
• Danish: petitesse c
• Esperanto: detaleto
• Estonian: pisidetail
• Finnish: pikkuseikka (fi)
• French: petit détail m
• German: Detail (de) n, Einzelheit (de) f, winziges Detail n, Kleinigkeit (de) f, Nebensächlichkeit (de) f
• Hebrew: פרטי פרטים (he) m pl (pirtéy pratím)
• Hungarian: (apró/aprólékos) részletek pl
• Ido: detaleto (io)
• Japanese: 枝葉末節 (ja) (siyōmassetsu)
• Polish: drobiazg (pl) m inan
• Spanish: mezquindad (es) f, minucia (es) f

Further reading

• “minutia”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Latin

Alternative forms

• minūtiēs

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mey-

Proto-Indo-European *-néwti

Proto-Indo-European *minéwti

Proto-Italic *minuō

Latin minuō

Latin minūtus

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin -ia

Latin minūtia

From minūtus (“diminished”) + -ia.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [mɪˈnuː.ti.a]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [miˈnut.t͡si.a]
• Hyphenation: mi‧nū‧ti‧a

Noun

minūtia f (genitive minūtiae); first declension

1. smallness, minuteness
2. small thing, trifle

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	minūtia	minūtiae
genitive	minūtiae	minūtiārum
dative	minūtiae	minūtiīs
accusative	minūtiam	minūtiās
ablative	minūtiā	minūtiīs
vocative	minūtia	minūtiae

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: minuzza, minugia
  • Sicilian: minusa
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Lombard: menüs pl
  • Piedmontese: mnis
• Gallo-Romance:
  • French: menuise (archaic)
  • Old Occitan: menusas pl
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Portuguese: miúça
  • Spanish: menuza (obsolete)

Possibly through the Vulgar *minūtiālia:

• Balkano-Romance:
  • Aromanian: minutsalji
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: minuzzaglia
  • Neapolitan: menuzzaglia
  • Sicilian: minuzzagghia
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: minuçae
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Old French: menuisaille
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Portuguese: miuçalha

Borrowings:

• → Catalan: minúcia
• → Corsican: minuzia
• → English: minutia
• → French: minutie
  • → Romanian: minuție
• → Friulian: minuzie
• → Galician: minucia
• → Italian: minuzia
• → Occitan: minucia
• → Portuguese: minúcia
• → Sicilian: minuzzia
• → Spanish: minucia, menucia

References

• “minutia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "minutia", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “minutia”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.