A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1550-1605
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Minim(e, n. Also: minn-, myn(n)ym. [Late ME. myn(n)ym (15th c.), e.m.E. minim(e, F. minime, L. minim-us smallest.] a. The minim, the musical note or its symbol. b. A single stroke of the pen, the least portion of a piece of writing or of anything. c. A friar of the mendicant order of Minims. —a. c1550-c1580 Art of Music 1 b.
The mynnym is a figur as the semibrew is with a virgle c1550-c1580 Ib.
The mynym a1605 Montg. Ch. & Slae 94 (Wr.).
With quaver, crotchet, semi-briefe, And not a minim mist —b. a1585 Polwart Flyt. 752 (T).
Quhair evrie minnym aucht to be refuisit —c. 1588 King Kal. in Forbes Kal. Sc. Saints 148.
S. Francis de Paula institutour of the ordor of the minimeis
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"Minim n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/minime_n>
