minimum

See also: Minimum

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin minimum, neuter form of minimus (“least, smallest”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪnɪməm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪnəməm/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: min‧i‧mum

Noun

minimum (plural minima or minimums)

1. The lowest limit.

   We prefer candidates with a minimum of 4 years experience in the field.

   We need a minimum of three staff members on duty at all times.

2. The smallest amount.

   He always tries to get away with doing the minimum.

   Please keep noise to a minimum after 11 o'clock

   • 2021 April 16, Judy Berman, “Kate Winslet's Mare of Easttown Is the Rare Crime Drama That Cares About Its Characters”, in Time‎:

     Realism might be the hardest aesthetic to do well. The performances have to be genuinely moving and the setting vividly evoked; bonkers twists must be kept to a minimum.

3. (astronomy) A period of minimum brightness or energy intensity (of a star).

   The Maunder minimum of the Sun reportedly corresponded to a period of great cold on Earth.

4. (mathematical analysis) A lower bound of a set which is also an element of that set.
5. (statistics) The smallest member of a batch or sample or the lower bound of a probability distribution.

Usage notes

• Minima is more common plural for the technical senses.

Antonyms

• maximum

Hypernyms

• (statistics): measure of location
• extremum

Hyponyms

• bare minimum
• Dalton Minimum
• global minimum
• local minimum
• Maunder minimum
• moral minimum
• solar minimum
• Spörer Minimum

Derived terms

• alternative minimum tax
• at a minimum
• at minimum
• at the minimum
• bare minimum Monday
• maximin
• minac
• minarchism
• minarchy
• minheap
• minimax
• minimum connecting time
• minimum contacts
• minimum cut
• minimum descent altitude
• minimum inhibitory concentration
• minimum minimorum
• minimum naturale
• minimum sector altitude
• minimum security
• minimum-security
• minimum seek time
• minimum skills
• minimum spanning tree
• minimum viable product
• minimumweight
• nonminimum
• subminimum

Related terms

• minimal
• minimize, minimise

Translations

lowest limit

Asturian: mínimu m Bulgarian: минимум (bg) m (minimum) Burmese: please add this translation if you can Catalan: mínim (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 最小 (zh) (zuìxiǎo), 最低 (zh) (zuìdī), 極小 / 极小 (zh) (jíxiǎo), 最小值 (zh) (zuìxiǎozhí) (lowest value) Czech: minimum (cs) n Esperanto: minimumo Finnish: minimi (fi), alaraja French: minimum (fr) m (plural minima (fr) m or minimums (fr) m) Galician: mínimo (gl) m Georgian: მინიმუმი (minimumi), არანაკლები (aranaḳlebi), სულ მცირე (sul mcire), სულ ცოტა (sul coṭa) German: Minimum (de) n, Mindestmaß (de) n Greek: ελάχιστο όριο n (eláchisto ório), κατώτατο όριο n (katótato ório) Hebrew: מִינִימוּם m (minimum), מִזְעָר (he) m (miz'ár), מִצְעָר (he) m (mitz'ár) Hindi: न्यूनतम (nyūntam), सबसे कम (sabse kam) Icelandic: lágmark n Ido: minimo (io) Italian: minimo (it) m Japanese: 最小 (ja) (さいしょう, saishō), 最低 (ja) (さいてい, saitei), 極小 (ja) (きょくしょう, kyokushō) Kazakh: ең аз шама (eñ az şama), ең аз сан (eñ az san) Khmer: ភាព​តូចបំផុត (phiəp-toucbɑmphot) Lao: please add this translation if you can Latin: minimum (la) Maori: mōkito Persian: حداقل (fa) (hadd-e-aqall), مینیمم (minimom), کمش (kamaš), کمینه (fa) (kamine) Portuguese: mínimo (pt) m Romanian: minimum (ro), minim (ro) n Russian: ми́нимум (ru) m (mínimum) Slovak: minimum n Spanish: mínimo (es) m, mínimum m (rare) Swedish: minimum (sv) n Tagalog: kubdulan Tajik: камаш (kamaš), ҳаддиақал (haddiaqal) Telugu: కనిష్టం (kaniṣṭaṁ) Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: en az, en düşük Vietnamese: tối thiểu (vi) (最少) Volapük: minum

Adjective

minimum (not comparable)

1. To the lowest degree.

   Synonym: minimal

Derived terms

• minimum wage

Translations

lowest degree

Bulgarian: минимален (bg) (minimalen) Burmese: please add this translation if you can Catalan: mínim (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 最小 (zh) (zuìxiǎo), 最低 (zh) (zuìdī), 極小 / 极小 (zh) (jíxiǎo) Czech: minimální (cs) m or m pl or f or f pl or n or n pl Finnish: minimi-, minimaalinen (fi), mahdollisimman pieni French: minimum (fr) German: minimal (de) Greek: ελάχιστος (el) m (eláchistos), κατώτατος (el) m (katótatos) Hindi: न्यूनतम (nyūntam) Ido: minima (io) Italian: minimo (it) Japanese: 最小 (ja) (さいしょう, saishō), 最低 (ja) (さいてい, saitei), 極小 (ja) (きょくしょう, kyokushō) Khmer: អប្បបរមា (km) (ʼâbbâbârméa) Lao: please add this translation if you can Marathi: कमीत कमी (kamīt kamī), किमान (kimān) Portuguese: mínimo (pt) Russian: минима́льный (ru) (minimálʹnyj) Slovak: minimálna f, minimálny m, minimálne n, minimálni m pl, minimálne m pl or f pl or n pl Spanish: mínimo (es) Tagalog: kubdulin Thai: ขั้นต่ำ (kân-dtàm) Vietnamese: tối thiểu (vi)

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɪnɪmum]

Noun

minimum n

1. minimum

   Antonym: maximum

Declension

Declension of minimum (hard neuter foreign)

	singular	plural
nominative	minimum	minima
genitive	minima	minim
dative	minimu	minimům
accusative	minimum	minima
vocative	minimum	minima
locative	minimu	minimech
instrumental	minimem	minimy

Related terms

• See minus

• minimalismus
• minimalista
• minimalizace
• minimalizovat
• minimální

Further reading

• “minimum”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “minimum”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “minimum”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Danish

Noun

minimum n (singular definite minimummet, plural indefinite minimummer)

1. minimum

Declension

Declension of minimum

neuter gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	minimum	minimummet	minimummer	minimummerne
genitive	minimums	minimummets	minimummers	minimummernes

Antonyms

• maksimum

Further reading

• “minimum” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin minimum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmi.niˌmʏm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mi‧ni‧mum

Noun

minimum n (plural minima, no diminutive)

1. minimum

Usage notes

• Note that the plural minima has meanings specific to it.

Derived terms

• bestaansminimum
• minima
• minimumleeftijd
• minimumloon

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.ni.mɔm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔm
• Homophone: minimums

Noun

minimum m (plural minima or minimums)

1. minimum

Usage notes

• The 1990 spelling reform recommends that the plural of minimum should be minimums.

Derived terms

• au minimum
• minimum syndical
• salaire minimum
• strict minimum

Descendants

• Persian: مینیمم (minimom)

Further reading

• “minimum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Adjective

minimum

1. accusative masculine singular of minimus
2. nominative neuter singular of minimus
3. accusative neuter singular of minimus
4. vocative neuter singular of minimus

References

• “minimum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• minimum in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin minimum.

Noun

minimum n (definite singular minimumet, indefinite plural minima or minimumer, definite plural minimaene or minimuma or minimumene)

1. minimum

Antonyms

• maksimum

Derived terms

• minimumskrav

References

• “minimum” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin minimum.

Noun

minimum n (definite singular minimumet, indefinite plural minimum, definite plural minimuma)

1. minimum

Antonyms

• maksimum

Derived terms

• minimumskrav

References

• “minimum” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

minimum

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin minimum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ɲi.mum/, (colloquial) /miˈɲi.mum/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɲimum, -imum
• Syllabification: mi‧ni‧mum

Adverb

minimum (not comparable)

1. at least

   Synonym: co najmniej

Noun

minimum n

1. minimum

   Antonym: maksimum

Declension

Declension of minimum

	singular	plural
nominative	minimum	minima
genitive	minimum	minimów
dative	minimum	minimom
accusative	minimum	minima
instrumental	minimum	minimami
locative	minimum	minimach
vocative	minimum	minima

Further reading

• minimum in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• minimum in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin minimum.

Noun

minimum n (uncountable)

1. minimum (lowest limit)
2. minimum, modicum (small quantity)

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	minimum	minimumul
genitive-dative	minimum	minimumului
vocative	minimumule

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mǐnimum/
• Hyphenation: mi‧ni‧mum

Noun

mìnimum m inan (Cyrillic spelling мѝнимум)

1. minimum

Declension

Declension of minimum

	singular	plural
nominative	minimum	minimumi
genitive	minimuma	minimuma
dative	minimumu	minimumima
accusative	minimum	minimume
vocative	minimume	minimumi
locative	minimumu	minimumima
instrumental	minimumom	minimumima

Swedish

Noun

minimum n

1. minimum

Declension

Declension of minimum

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	minimum	minimums
	definite	minimumet	minimumets
plural	indefinite	minimum	minimums
	definite	minimumen	minimumens