Minim

Half as long as the semibreve or whole note.
Twice as long as the crotchet or quarter note.
In musical notation, the minim is shown with an open oval or circle attached to a stem:
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 o   o
    |
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See the ascii art in the node for half note to get a better idea.

Min"im (?), n. [F. minime, L. minimus the least, smallest, a superl. of minor: cf. It. minima a note in music. See Minor, and cf. Minimum.]

1.

Anything very minute; as, the minims of existence; -- applied to animalcula; and the like.

2.

The smallest liquid measure, equal to about one drop; the sixtieth part of a fluid drachm.

3. Zool.

A small fish; a minnow.

[Prov. Eng.]

4.

A little man or being; a dwarf.

[Obs.]

Milton.

5. Eccl. Hist.

One of an austere order of mendicant hermits of friars founded in the 15th century by St. Francis of Paola.

6. Mus.

A time note, formerly the shortest in use; a half note, equal to half a semibreve, or two quarter notes or crotchets.

7.

A short poetical encomium.

[Obs.]

Spenser.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Min"im, a.

Minute.

"Minim forms."

J. R. Drake.

 

© Webster 1913.