minimus

English

Etymology

From Latin . See minim.

Noun

minimus (plural minimi or minimuses)

1. (obsolete) A being of the smallest size.
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Get you gone, you dwarf;
     You minimus, of hindering knot-grass made;
     You bead, you acorn.

2. (dated) The youngest pupil in a school having a particular surname.

   Jones Minimus wants to join the rowing team.

3. (anatomy) The little finger or the little toe

Related terms

• gluteus minimus

Translations

the fifth digit — see little finger,‎ little toe

References

• “minimus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Latin

Alternative forms

• minumus (Republican Latin)

Etymology

Suppletive superlative of parvus, comparative minor, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mey(h₁)- (“small, little”), whence also Latin minuō, Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌹𐌶𐌰 (minniza, “smaller”). Contains the same suffix as in īnfimus (“lowest”), but details are uncertain. Related to Ancient Greek μῑκρός (mīkrós, “little, small”), English smicker.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ni.mus/, [ˈmɪnɪmʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ni.mus/, [ˈmiːnimus]

Adjective

minimus (feminine minima, neuter minimum); first/second declension

1. superlative degree of parvus

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	minimus	minima	minimum		minimī	minimae	minima
Genitive	minimī	minimae	minimī		minimōrum	minimārum	minimōrum
Dative	minimō		minimō		minimīs
Accusative	minimum	minimam	minimum		minimōs	minimās	minima
Ablative	minimō	minimā	minimō		minimīs
Vocative	minime	minima	minimum		minimī	minimae	minima

Antonyms

• maximus

Descendants

• Italian: menomo
  • ⇒ Italian: menomare
  • ⇒? Italian: mignolo
• ⇒ Franco-Provençal: amermar
• Old Catalan: merme
  • ⇒ Catalan: marmanya
• Old French: merme
  • ⇒? French: marmot
  • ⇒ Old French: doi marme (“little finger”)
• ⇒ Lombard: marmel, marmelin (“little finger”)
  • → Sicilian: barbeḍin (“little finger”)
• ⇒ Old Galician-Portuguese:
  • Galician: mouminho (“smallest”), me(i)minho (“little finger”)
  • Portuguese: meiminho, mendinho (“little finger”)
• >? Old Galician-Portuguese: meninho (“boy”), minhinho; meninno, menỹo
  • Galician: meniño
  • Portuguese: menino (see there for further descendants)
• → Catalan: mínim (learned)
• → English: minimum (learned)
• → French: minime, minimum (learned)
• → Galician: mínimo (learned)
• → German: Minimum (learned)
• → Italian: minimo (learned)
• → Piedmontese: mìnim (learned)
• → Portuguese: mínimo (learned)
• → Romanian: minim (learned)
• → Russian: ми́нимум (mínimum) (learned)
• → Spanish: mínimo (learned)

References

• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “minimus”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German)

Further reading

• “minimus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “minimus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• minimus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) the faintest suspicion: suspicio tenuissima, minima