minute

Minute comes from Middle English mynute, from Old French minute, from Medieval Latin minūta, meaning "60th of an hour" or "note." That Latin word traces back to minūtus, "small" or "petty," the past participle of minuō, "to make smaller."

The word started as a description of smallness itself, then narrowed to name a specific small portion of time — the 60th part of an hour.

Minute is a doublet of menu and menudo, meaning all three descend from the same root word, having taken different paths into English.