Noun: minutia
| Singular | minutia |
| Plural | minutiae |
Sample Sentences
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They spent all their time on minutiae, never making real progress.
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I think I can ſee the preciſe and diſtinguiſhing marks of national characters more in theſe nonſenſical minutiæ, than in the moſt important matters of ſtate ; where great men of all nations talk and ſtalk ſo much alike, that I would not give ninepence to chuſe amongſt them. [1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, 2nd edition, volume I, London: T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, published 1768, page 159:]
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin minutia, from minūtus (“small, little”), from minuō (“make smaller”). By surface analysis, minute + -ia. See: Latin Nouns '
minutia'.