de minimis
adjective
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Proponents of readable prose over jargon and legalese might argue that the last thing 20th-century American jurisprudence needed was another Latin term. Yet here we have a legal term that entered English only around 1950. Perhaps we should clarify: the legal doctrine of de minimis non curat lex ("the law does not concern itself with trifling matters") has been around for a while, but use of de minimis on its own is relatively recent. At first, the shortened phrase was simply used to refer to the legal doctrine itself ("the de minimis rule"). Then it came to be used more broadly as an adjective ("de minimis contacts with the defendant"). Finally, de minimis leaked out of the courtroom and into the world at large.
Synonyms
Examples of de minimis in a Sentence
Gabrielle Fonrouge, CNBC, 23 Jan. 2025
Temu, too, had been accused of being operationally opaque, placing it in the same sightlines as Shein and stoking calls for de minimis reform in the United States.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 7 Jan. 2025
Packages valued under $800 — like my Amazon Haul order or your Shein impulse purchases — are able to enter the US import tax-free under the de minimis rule, and the White House says more than a billion parcels a year claim the exemption.
—Mia Sato, The Verge, 19 Dec. 2024
The shipment is eligible for the de minimis exemption, if the aggregate fair retail value of the articles imported is $800 or less.
—Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 20 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near de minimis
Cite this Entry
“De minimis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/de%20minimis. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
de minimis
adjective
Note: An action may be dismissed if the claim or cause is considered de minimis.
New Latin, concerning trifles
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