Why are the records of meetings referred to as “minutes”?

Is it because meetings keep to a strict time?  If so, that has not been my experience.

Is it because the timekeeper taker records the time of discussion?

Good guess, but neither of these explanations is correct. In fact, the term “minute” has little to do with time.   Rather it refers to “small”, as in “minute”: pronounced: “my-newt”.

The term “Minutes” first came into vogue in the early 18th century.  It is derived from either the Latin “minuta scriptura”, meaning “small notes” or “minuta”, meaning “small”, or possibly goes back even further to the Latin of thr 16th century “minute” definition of “rough draft” from the preceding Latin.

So here’s the message:

Meeting minutes need to be minute (my-newt), as in small.  They are a condensed version of what transpired at a meeting. So if you are a minute taker, don’t waste words.  The term is not associated with time, as in “seconds, minutes, hours”, although some meeting facilitators might be wise to keep their meetings minute (“my-newt”) too!

Need help with taking minutes at meetings?

Learning Insight now offers an online version of our course, Minute Taking Skills.

Contact us for more details or check out the course outline.

https://learninginsight.com.au/courses/take-a-minute-minute-taking-skills/