# Minute

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Unit of time equal to 60 seconds

This article is about the unit of time. For angle, see [Minute of arc](/source/Minute_of_arc). For the written record of a meeting, see [Minutes](/source/Minutes). For other uses, see [Minute (disambiguation)](/source/Minute_(disambiguation)).

minute An analogue clock showing one minute after twelve General information Unit system Non-SI units accepted for use with the SI Unit of time Symbol min Conversions 1 min in ... ... is equal to ... SI units 60 s Non-SI units ⁠1/60⁠ h

A **minute** is a [unit of time](/source/Unit_of_time) defined as equal to 60 [seconds](/source/Second).[1] It is not a unit in the [International System of Units](/source/International_System_of_Units) (SI), but is [accepted for use with SI](/source/Non-SI_units_mentioned_in_the_SI).[1] The SI symbol for minutes is **min** (without a dot). The [prime symbol](/source/Prime_symbol) ′ is also sometimes used informally to denote minutes.[2]

In the [UTC](/source/Coordinated_Universal_Time) [time standard](/source/Time_standard), a minute on rare occasions has 61 seconds, a consequence of [leap seconds](/source/Leap_second); there is also a provision to insert a negative leap second, which would result in a 59-second minute, but this has never happened in more than 40 years under this system.

## History

[Al-Biruni](/source/Al-Biruni) first subdivided the [hour](/source/Hour) [sexagesimally](/source/Sexagesimal) into minutes, [seconds](/source/Second), thirds and fourths in 1000 CE while discussing Jewish months.[3]

Historically, the word "minute" comes from the Latin *pars minuta prima*, meaning "first small part". This division of the hour can be further refined with a "second small part" (Latin: *pars minuta secunda*), and this is where the word "second" comes from. For even further refinement, the term "third" (1⁄60 of a second) was once used, but most modern usage subdivides seconds by using decimals. The symbol notation of the prime for minutes and double prime for seconds can be seen as indicating the first and second cut of the hour (similar to how the foot is the first cut of the [yard](/source/Yard) or perhaps [chain](/source/Chain_(length)), with inches as the second cut). In 1267, the medieval scientist [Roger Bacon](/source/Roger_Bacon), writing in Latin, defined the division of time between [full moons](/source/Full_moon) as a number of hours, minutes, seconds, thirds, and fourths (*horae*, *minuta*, *secunda*, *tertia*, and *quarta*) after noon on specified calendar dates.[4] Jost Bürgi was the first clock maker to include a minute hand on clock for astronomer Tycho Brahe in 1577.[5] The introduction of the minute hand into watches was possible only after the invention of the [hairspring](/source/Hairspring) by [Thomas Tompion](/source/Thomas_Tompion), an English watchmaker, in 1675.[6]

## See also

- [Clock face](/source/Clock_face)

- [International System of Units](/source/International_System_of_Units)

- [Latitude and longitude](/source/Latitude_and_longitude)

- [Orders of magnitude (time)](/source/Orders_of_magnitude_(time))

## Notes and references

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-SI_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-SI_1-1) ["Non-SI units accepted for use with the SI, and units based on fundamental constants"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200316121104/https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si-brochure/SI-Brochure-9-EN.pdf) (PDF). *Bureau International de Poids et Mesures*. pp. 145–146. Archived from [the original](https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si-brochure/SI-Brochure-9-EN.pdf) (PDF) on 16 March 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Nelson, D. (2008). "Prime symbol (accent)". [*The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics*](https://books.google.com/books?id=ud3sEeVdTIwC&pg=PT519) (4th ed.). Penguin UK. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0141920870](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0141920870).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-al-Biruni_3-0)** [Al-Biruni](/source/Al-Biruni) (1879) [1000]. [*The Chronology of Ancient Nations*](https://books.google.com/books?id=pFIEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA147). Translated by Sachau, C. Edward. pp. 147–149.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** R Bacon (2000) [1928]. *The Opus Majus of Roger Bacon*. BR Belle. [University of Pennsylvania Press](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania_Press). table facing page 231. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1855068568](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1855068568).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Pi, Chia-Yi Tony (January 2000). ["Canadians telling time: A study in Dialect Topography"](https://twpl.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/twpl/article/view/6252/3240). *Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics*. **18**.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Mitman, Carl (1926). "The Story of Timekeeping". *The Scientific Monthly*. **22** (5): 424–427. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1926SciMo..22..424M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1926SciMo..22..424M). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [7652](https://www.jstor.org/stable/7652).

## Bibliography

- Henry Campbell Black, *[Black's Law Dictionary](/source/Black's_Law_Dictionary)*, 6th Edition, entry on Minute. West Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1991.[*[ISBN missing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)*]

- Eric W. Weisstein. ["Arc Minute."](http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ArcMinute.html) From [MathWorld](/source/MathWorld) – A Wolfram

v t e Time Key concepts Past Present Future Eternity Measurement and standards Chronometry UTC Universal Time TAI Unit of time Orders of magnitude (time) Measurement systems Italian six-hour clock Thai six-hour clock 12-hour clock 24-hour clock Relative hour Daylight saving time Chinese Decimal Hexadecimal Hindu Jain Metric Roman Sidereal Solar Time zone Calendars Main types Solar Lunar Lunisolar Gregorian Julian Hebrew Islamic Solar Hijri Chinese Hindu Panchang Maya List Clocks Main types astronomical astrarium atomic quantum hourglass marine sundial watch 24-hour wristwatch mechanical stopwatch water-based Cuckoo clock Digital clock Grandfather clock History Timeline Chronology History Astronomical chronology Big History Calendar era Deep time Periodization Regnal year Timeline Philosophy of time A series and B series B-theory of time Chronocentrism Duration Endurantism Eternal return Eternalism Event Moving spotlight theory Perdurantism Presentism Temporal finitism Temporal parts "The Unreality of Time" Religion Mythology Ages of Man Destiny Immortality Dreamtime Kāla Time and fate deities Father Time Wheel of time Kalachakra Human experience and use of time Chronemics Generation time Mental chronometry Music tempo time signature Rosy retrospection Tense–aspect–mood Time management Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow Time in science Geology Geological time age chron eon epoch era period Geochronology Geological history of Earth Physics Absolute space and time Arrow of time Chronon Coordinate time Instant Proper time Spacetime Theory of relativity Time domain Time translation symmetry Time reversal symmetry Other fields Chronological dating Chronobiology Circadian rhythms Clock reaction Glottochronology Time geography Related Leap year Memory Moment Sabbath Space System time Tempus fugit Time capsule Time immemorial Time travel Time value of money Category Commons

v t e Time measurement and standards International standards Coordinated Universal Time offset UT ΔT DUT1 International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service ISO 31-1 ISO 8601 International Atomic Time 12-hour clock 24-hour clock Barycentric Coordinate Time Barycentric Dynamical Time Civil time Daylight saving time Geocentric Coordinate Time International Date Line IERS Reference Meridian Leap second Solar time Terrestrial Time Time zone 180th meridian Obsolete standards Ephemeris time Greenwich Mean Time Prime meridian Time in physics Absolute space and time Spacetime Chronon Coordinate time Discrete time and continuous time Proper time Theory of relativity Time dilation Gravitational time dilation Time domain Time-translation symmetry T-symmetry Chronometry Clock Astrarium Atomic clock Complication History of timekeeping devices Hourglass Marine chronometer Marine sandglass Radio clock Watch stopwatch Water clock Sundial Dialing scales Equation of time History of sundials Sundial markup schema Calendar Gregorian Hebrew Hindu Holocene Islamic (lunar Hijri) Julian Solar Hijri Astronomical Dominical letter Epact Equinox Intercalation Julian day Leap year Lunar Lunisolar Solar Solstice Tropical year Weekday determination Weekday names Archaeology and geology Chronological dating Geologic time scale International Commission on Stratigraphy Astronomical chronology Galactic year Nuclear timescale Precession Sidereal time Other units of time Instant Flick Shake Jiffy Second Minute Moment Hour Day Week Fortnight Month Year Olympiad Lustrum Decade Century Saeculum Millennium Related topics Orders of magnitude Chronology Duration music Mental chronometry Decimal time Metric time System time Time value of money Timekeeper

v t e SI units Base units ampere candela kelvin kilogram metre mole second Derived units with special names becquerel coulomb degree Celsius farad gray henry hertz joule katal lumen lux newton ohm pascal radian siemens sievert steradian tesla volt watt weber See also International System of Units Historical definitions of the SI base units 2019 revision of the SI Metric prefixes Conversion of units System of units of measurement Category

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Minute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minute) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minute?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.