minutia

noun

mi·​nu·​tia mə-ˈnü-sh(ē-)ə How to pronounce minutia (audio)
mī-,
-ˈnyü-
plural minutiae mə-ˈnü-shē-ˌē How to pronounce minutia (audio)
-ˌī,
mī-,
-ˈnyü-,
-sh(ē-)ə
: a minute or minor detail
usually used in plural
He was bewildered by the contract's minutiae.

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.”

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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

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But also, this has always been a show about the minutiae of psychohistory, about the individuals that history ignores, about the moments before and after the big history-making events. Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2025 This may sound like minutiae, but the slightly wider screen is easier to type on and is better suited to apps. PC Magazine, 10 July 2025 New technological advances in this area have the power to speed up all of the minutiae—loading and unloading, parking, contacting the customer—and simplify all the minute disruptions and challenges that stand between a delivery order and its successful fulfillment. Satish Natarajan, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025 Casual readers of Elmore Leonard may be turned off by the minutia in this biography of the popular American writer. Sandra Dallas, Denver Post, 13 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for minutia

Word History

Etymology

Latin minutiae trifles, details, from plural of minutia smallness, from minutus

First Known Use

1748, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of minutia was in 1748

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Cite this Entry

“Minutia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minutia. Accessed 8 Aug. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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