minutia

noun

mi·nu·tia mə-ˈnü-sh(ē-)ə

mī-,

-ˈnyü-

plural minutiae mə-ˈnü-shē-ˌē

-ˌī,

mī-,

-ˈnyü-,

-sh(ē-)ə

: a minute or minor detail

—usually used in plural

He was bewildered by the contract's minutiae.

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Minutia Has Latin Roots

Minutia was borrowed into English in the 18th century from the Latin plural noun minutiae, meaning "trifles" or "details," and derived 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, an adjective meaning "small" that was created from the verb minuere, meaning "to lessen." A familiar descendant of minutus is minute.

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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

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For one, the topic is steeped in minutia, involving complexities that even many financial advisors fail to understand fully. —

Rory O'Hara, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025 Banchero’s not only looking forward to playing again, but also the minutiae of everyday life in the NBA after two months of only observing from the bench. —

Jason Beede, Orlando Sentinel, 28 Dec. 2024 But with her spot-on impressions of her mother’s southern drawl, her exaggerated pantomiming skills and her impeccable sense of timing, the minutiae of everyday life is spun into comedy gold. —

Them, 11 Dec. 2024 However, for Flynn and Gerhardt—who died in 2015—the minutiae of Mathews’ terror campaign were a mechanism to engage audiences with a deeper, darker reality. —

Ali Winston, WIRED, 6 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for minutia