Minimum

How to spell minimum

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce minimum

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does minimum mean?

1. nounThe smallest amount or quantity that is possible, allowed, or required.
2. adjectiveBeing the least or smallest amount, value, or degree allowed or possible.

Minimum in a sentence

• noun

  The contract sets a minimum of forty hours each week.

• adjective

  The job pays only the minimum wage for this region.

• noun

  Keep your spending to a minimum until payday.

• adjective

  Applicants must meet the minimum age requirement of eighteen.

Where does minimum come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes straight from Latin minimum, the neuter form of minimus, meaning 'smallest' or 'least'. Minimus was the superlative of parvus, the ordinary Latin word for 'small', so minimum literally pointed to the very least of something. English adopted it in the early 1600s, first as a mathematical and scientific term for the lowest possible amount or value, before it broadened into everyday speech about the least acceptable quantity. The same root survives in relatives such as 'minim', 'minimal', and 'minimise', and even in 'minute' meaning tiny. The spelling trap is the run of unstressed vowels: writers reach for an extra letter or swap the final 'um' for 'un', forgetting that the Latin ending stays as -um.

How the word is built

• minim- (from Latin minimus: smallest)
• -um (Latin neuter noun ending)