insignificant: In 1949 Bonn was a small, insignificant city.
triviaclass="underline" The director tried to wave aside these issues as trivial details.
mi|nor|ity ◆◆◇ /m I nɒ r I ti, [AM ] -nɔː r-/ (minorities )
1 N‑SING If you talk about a minority of people or things in a larger group, you are referring to a number of them that forms less than half of the larger group, usually much less than half. □ [+ of ] Local authority nursery provision covers only a tiny minority of working mothers. □ …minority shareholders. ● PHRASE If people are in a minority or in the minority , they belong to a group of people or things that form less than half of a larger group. □ Even in the 1960s, politically active students and academics were in a minority. □ In the past conservatives have been in the minority.
2 N‑COUNT A minority is a group of people of the same race, culture, or religion who live in a place where most of the people around them are of a different race, culture, or religion. □ …the region's ethnic minorities.
min|strel /m I nstrəl/ (minstrels ) N‑COUNT In medieval times, a minstrel was a singer and musician who travelled around and entertained noble families.
mint /m I nt/ (mints , minting , minted )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Mint is a herb with fresh-tasting leaves. □ Garnish with mint sprigs.
2 N‑COUNT A mint is a sweet with a peppermint flavour. Some people suck mints in order to make their breath smell fresher.
3 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The mint is the place where the official coins of a country are made. □ In 1965 the mint stopped putting silver in dimes.
4 VERB To mint coins or medals means to make them in a mint. □ [V n] …the right to mint coins.
5 N‑SING If you say that someone makes a mint , you mean that they make a very large amount of money. [INFORMAL ] □ Everybody thinks I'm making a mint.
6 PHRASE If you say that something is in mint condition , you mean that it is in perfect condition.
mint|ed /m I nt I d/ ADJ [usu ADJ n, adv ADJ ] If you describe something as newly minted or freshly minted , you mean that it is very new, and that it has only just been produced or completed. □ He seemed to be pleased by this newly minted vehicle. □ …the movie's freshly minted script.
mi nt sau ce N‑UNCOUNT Mint sauce is a sauce made from mint leaves, vinegar, and sugar, which is often eaten with lamb.
minu|et /m I njue t/ (minuets )
1 N‑COUNT In the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a minuet is a piece of music with three beats in a bar which is played at moderate speed.
2 N‑COUNT A minuet is a fairly slow and formal dance which was popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
mi|nus /ma I nəs/ (minuses )
1 CONJ You use minus to show that one number or quantity is being subtracted from another. □ One minus one is zero. □ They've been promised their full July salary minus the hardship payment.
2 ADJ Minus before a number or quantity means that the number or quantity is less than zero. □ The aircraft was subjected to temperatures of minus 65 degrees and plus 120 degrees.
3 Teachers use minus in grading work in schools and colleges. 'B minus' is not as good as 'B', but is a better grade than 'C'. □ I'm giving him a B minus.
4 PREP To be minus something means not to have that thing. □ The film company collapsed, leaving Chris jobless and minus his life savings.
5 N‑COUNT A minus is a disadvantage. [INFORMAL ] □ The minuses far outweigh that possible gain.
6 PHRASE You use plus or minus to give the amount by which a particular number may vary. □ The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 per cent.
mi|nus|cule /m I n I skjuːl/ ADJ If you describe something as minuscule , you mean that it is very small. □ The film was shot in 17 days, a minuscule amount of time.
mi |nus sign (minus signs ) N‑COUNT A minus sign is the sign - which is put between two numbers in order to show that the second number is being subtracted from the first one. It is also put before a number to show that the number is less than zero.
minute
➊ NOUN AND VERB USES
➋ ADJECTIVE USE
➊ min|ute ◆◆◆ /m I n I t/ (minutes , minuting , minuted )
1 N‑COUNT A minute is one of the sixty parts that an hour is divided into. People often say ' a minute ' or ' minutes ' when they mean a short length of time. □ The pizza will then take about twenty minutes to cook. □ Bye Mum, see you in a minute. □ Within minutes we realized our mistake.
2 N‑PLURAL The minutes of a meeting are the written records of the things that are discussed or decided at it. □ [+ of ] He'd been reading the minutes of the last meeting.
3 VERB When someone minutes something that is discussed or decided at a meeting, they make a written record of it. □ [V n] You don't need to minute that.
4 → see also up-to-the-minute
5 CONVENTION People often use expressions such as wait a minute or just a minute when they want to stop you doing or saying something. □ Wait a minute, folks, something is wrong here. □ Hey, just a minute!
6 PHRASE If you say that something will or may happen at any minute or any minute now , you are emphasizing that it is likely to happen very soon. [EMPHASIS ] □ It looked as though it might rain at any minute. □ Any minute now, that phone is going to ring.