Today's word is minutiae, spelled M-I-N-U-T-I-A.
Minutiae is a noun.
It refers to a small or minor detail.
It's usually used in its plural form, minutiae.
Here's the word used in a sentence from Vanity Fair by David Friend.
The novel is an intricate thatch of corkscrew twists,
vivid characters, dead-on colloquial dialogue,
and lawyerly minutiae that culminates in a courtroom showdown worthy of Dominic Dunn.
We'll try not to bore you with the minor details of minutiae,
though some things are worth noting about the words history and usage.
It'll only take a minute.
Minutiae was borrowed into English in the 18th century from the Latin plural noun minutiae.
meaning trifles or details, which comes from the singular noun minutia, meaning smallness.
In English, minutia is most often used in the plural as either minutiae or minutiae,
or on occasion, simply minutia.
The Latin minutia, incidentally, comes from minutus,
also the ancestor of the familiar English word minute,
an adjective meaning small that was created from the verb minuere, meaning to lessen.
With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
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