The word minute has two completely different meanings:

1. An amount of time equal to sixty seconds. There are sixty minutes in an hour. When your teacher says “You have five minutes left,” you know exactly how long that is. We divide time into minutes to measure everything from how long it takes to brush your teeth to how much time remains in a basketball game.
2. Extremely small or involving tiny details (pronounced my-NOOT). A scientist might examine minute particles under a microscope. A detective might notice minute scratches on a lock that others would miss. When someone examines something “in minute detail,” they're looking at every tiny aspect carefully and thoroughly. These minute observations often reveal important clues or discoveries that careless observers would overlook entirely.