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minutia

noun
mi·​nu·​tia | \ mÉ™-ˈnü-sh(Ä“-)É™ How to pronounce minutia (audio) , mÄ«-, -ˈnyü-\
plural minutiae\ mÉ™-​ˈnü-​shÄ“-​ˌē How to pronounce minutiae (audio) , -​ˌī , mÄ«-​ , -​ˈnyü-​ , -​sh(Ä“-​)É™ \

Definition of minutia

: a minute or minor detail —usually used in plural He was bewildered by the contract's minutiae.
How to Pronounce Minutia and Minutiae Minutia Has Latin Roots Example Sentences Learn More about minutia

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How to Pronounce Minutia and Minutiae

Minutiae, we’ve established, is the plural of minutia and also far more common in prose than the singular minutia. There is, however, confusion over the pronunciation of both the singular and the plural, and the confusion may be leading some to use the singular minutia where the plural minutiae is called for. Minutia, the singular, is generally pronounced \muh-NOO-shee-uh\ or \muh-NOO-shuh\, and the plural minutiae should be properly pronounced \muh-NOO-shee-ee\. But transcripts of spoken English show that this is not always adhered to: minutia shows up in transcribed speech far more often than it does in edited writing, and usually in places where one would expect minutiae. This leads us to believe that the pronunciation of minutiae is merging with the pronunciation of minutia, or that minutia is being re-analyzed as a zero plural.

Minutia Has Latin Roots

Minutia was borrowed into English in the late 18th century from the Latin plural noun minutiae, meaning "trifles" or "details" and derived from the singular noun minutia, meaning "smallness." In English, minutia is most often used in the plural as either minutiae or, on occasion, as simply minutia. Latin minutia, incidentally, comes from minutus, an adjective meaning "small" that was created from the verb minuere, meaning "to lessen." A familiar descendant of minutus is minute.

Examples of minutia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 Boards aren’t supposed to get into the minutiae of operations; that’s management’s job. — Geoff Colvin, Fortune, "The Battle Between AT&T and its Angriest Investor is Just Getting Started. Here’s What to Watch for Next," 10 Sep. 2019 Yet, it and other cities like it, were tossed on a back burner while candidates traded barbs and debated at length the minutia of each other's health care proposals. — Kat Stafford, Detroit Free Press, "Democratic debates put a national spotlight on Detroit. But candidates ignored its issues.," 5 Aug. 2019 In contrast to Peterson, Justin Roczniak is a wonk who likes to riff on the minutiae of city planning. — Shaan Amin, The New Republic, "Can the Left Win YouTube?," 2 July 2019 The corporate and government decisions that led to that disconnect are central to a series of ongoing investigations into the Max crashes, and the origins of those decisions rest in the critical minutia of engineering and certification. — oregonlive.com, "Boeing’s decision to withhold 737 Max info from pilots is ‘shocking,’ Peter DeFazio says," 19 June 2019 Unconcerned with the minutiae of policy proposals or manifesto pledges, his work was to articulate a praxis of politics to serve a nation. — R.c., The Economist, "How conservatives—on the left and on the right—can defeat the populists," 9 July 2019 Route running was noted as needing improvement but daily progress in that area was mentioned along with his attention to detail and learning the minutia of the position. — Evan Dudley, al.com, "How UAB’s connection to Spanish Fort helps recruiting," 19 June 2019 Expert witnesses took the stand in a Collin County murder-for-hire trial Wednesday, unraveling in detail various minutiae related to a McKinney man's 2015 slaying. — Sarah Sarder, Dallas News, "In Collin County murder-for-hire trial, state calls on experts to prove man gave killer details for hit," 26 June 2019 This shrewd political operator doesn’t bother much with the minutiae of policy detail but aims to reach his followers at a deeper, more powerful gut level through beery, blokeish plain speaking. — Jonathan Coe, Time, "How Brexit Broke Britain and Revealed a Country at War With Itself," 6 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'minutia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of minutia

1782, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for minutia

Latin minutiae trifles, details, from plural of minutia smallness, from minutus

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More from Merriam-Webster on minutia

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with minutia

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