a written account of what transpired at a meeting
"The secretary distributed minutes from last week's board meeting to all directors before the agenda began."
plural of minute
"The secretary typed up the minutes from yesterday's board meeting before sending them to all directors."
The official notes kept during a meeting.
In plain English: Minutes are small units of time that make up an hour.
"Please arrive at least fifteen minutes before the meeting starts."
Usage: Minutes are the written record of discussions and decisions made during a formal meeting, not a measurement of time. Always refer to them in the plural form when discussing official documentation from an event.
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of minute
"She minutes every decision made at the board meeting."
In plain English: To minute something is to write down what happens during a meeting so everyone remembers the details later.
"She will meet us for coffee in ten minutes."
Usage: Do not confuse the time unit with the verb, which means to record or write down details in an official report. Use it only when describing someone formally documenting a discussion or event, as in "She minutes all board meetings."
Derived from Latin minutus, this term originally meant something small or finely divided, referring to the smallest unit of time in an hour. It evolved through Old French minute before entering English with its current meaning as sixty seconds or a brief written record.