MINIM (adapted from

See also:

• LAT

Lat. minimus, the smallest; a superlative formed from the Indo-Germanic

See also:

• ROOT (late O.E. rot, adopted from Scand., cf. Norw. and Swed. rot, Dan. rod; the true O.E. word was wyrt, plant, represented in Ger. Wurz or Wurzel; the ultimate root is the same in both words, and is seen in Lat. radix)
• ROOT, ELIHU (1845– )

root

See also:

• MIN

min-, small)  , the smallest possible part of a thing, a particle . In music the name " minim " (nota minima) was given by medieval musicians to a note whose value was half a semibreve . It was, as its name implies, the note of the shortest duration then in use . In modern music several notes of lesser value, as the " crotchet " and " quaver," have been added, and the minim is now about half-way in the scale of " values." According to Thomas Morley (A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practical Music, 1597), its introduction into manuscript music is ascribed to Phillipus de Vitriaco, a musician of the 14th century . In medicine a minim is the smallest fluid measure, being equal to one drop . Sixty minims make a fluid drachm . For the religious Order known as " Minims " see FRANCIS OF PAOLA, ST .