minimum

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: min=i=mum

CIDE DICTIONARY

minimum, n. [L., fr. minimus. See Minim.].

 The least quantity assignable, admissible, or possible, in a given case; hence, a thing of small consequence; -- opposed to maximum.  [1913 Webster]

Minimum thermometer, a thermometer for recording the lowest temperature since its last adjustment.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

minimum, n. & adj. (pl. minima)
--n. the least possible or attainable amount (reduced to a minimum).
--adj. that is a minimum.

Idiom

minimum lending rate the announced minimum percentage at which a central bank will discount bills (cf. base rate (see BASE(1))).

Usage

Abolished in the UK in 1981. minimum wage the lowest wage permitted by law or special agreement.

Etymology

L, neut. of minimus least

THESAURUS

minimum

ace, adequacy, adequate, adequate supply, adequateness, ample, atom, bare minimum, bare sufficiency, barely sufficient, bit, commensurate, competence, competency, competent, corresponding, dab, decent, dole, dot, dram, dribble, driblet, due, dwarf, enough, equal to, exact measure, farthing, few, fit, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, gobbet, good, good enough, grain, granule, groat, hair, handful, iota, jot, just enough, least, little, little bit, littlest, lota, lowest, margin, minim, minimal, minutiae, mite, modicum, molecule, mote, nadir, nominal, nutshell, ounce, particle, pebble, pinch, pittance, plenty, plenty good enough, point, proportionate, reduced, right amount, satisfaction, satisfactoriness, satisfactory, satisfactory amount, scruple, shortest, slightest, smallest, smidgen, smitch, speck, spoonful, spot, substantial, sufficiency, sufficient, sufficient for, sufficientness, sufficing, suitable, thimbleful, tiny bit, tittle, trifling amount, trivia, up to, whit

ROGET THESAURUS

minimum

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Inferiority

N inferiority, minority, subordinacy, shortcoming, deficiency, minimum, smallness, imperfection, lower quality, lower worth, commonalty, inferior, smaller, small, minor, less, lesser, deficient, minus, lower, subordinate, secondary, secondrate, sub, subaltern, thrown into the shade, weighed in the balance and found wanting, not fit to hold a candle to, can't hold a candle to, least, smallest &c (little) (small), lowest, diminished, reduced, unimportant, less, under the mark, below the mark, below par, at the bottom of the scale, at a low ebb, at a disadvantage, short of, under.