Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Minute \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.

   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.

Minute \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.

Minute \Min"ute\ (?; 277), n. [LL. minuta a small portion, small
   coin, fr. L. minutus small: cf. F. minute. See 4th {Minute}.]
   1. The sixtieth part of an hour; sixty seconds. (Abbrev. m.;
      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[deg] 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. 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.

   8. (Arch.) A fixed part of a module. See {Module}.

   Note: Different writers take as the minute one twelfth, one
         eighteenth, one thirtieth, or one sixtieth part of the
         module.

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.

         The Empress of Russia, with her own hand, minuted an
         edict for universal tolerance.           --Bancroft.

Source : WordNet®

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}]

minute
     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}]