minutia
noun
Did you know?
Minutia Has Latin Roots
We’ll try not to bore you with the minor details of minutia, though some things are worth noting about the word’s history and usage. It’ll only take a minute! Minutia was borrowed into English in the 18th century from the Latin plural noun minutiae, meaning “trifles” or “details,” which comes from the singular noun minutia, meaning “smallness.” In English, minutia is most often used in the plural as either minutiae (pronounced \muh-NOO-shee-ee\) or, on occasion, as simply minutia. The Latin minutia, incidentally, comes from minutus (also the ancestor of the familiar English word minute), an adjective meaning “small” that was created from the verb minuere, meaning “to lessen.”
Did you know?
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.
Examples of minutia in a Sentence
Adia Harvey Wingfield, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
Lions fifth-year head coach Juan Orozco said his team’s commitment to buying into the minutiae of the sport resulted in the championship.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 21 May 2025
In the studio, we artisans can get caught up in the minutiae of our stories and lose sight of the bigger picture.
—Hazlitt, 13 May 2025
Without getting caught up on minutiae, some of the differing choices are apparent while others are more subtle.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for minutia
Cite this Entry
“Minutia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minutia. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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