minutia
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English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin minutia, from minūtus (“small, little”), from minuō (“make smaller”).
Pronunciation
Noun
minutia (plural minutiae or minutiæ)
- 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.
- (biometrics, forensics) Any of the point features on fingerprints used for matching, usually endings and bifurcations of ridges.
Translations
minor detail
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Latin
Alternative forms
Etymology
From minūtus (“diminished”) + -ia.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /miˈnuː.ti.a/,
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /miˈnut.t͡si.a/,
Noun
minūtia f (genitive minūtiae); first declension
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
References
- “minutia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- minutia in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s 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.