Minim

n. [Lat. minimus, the least, smallest; Fr. minime, extremely small; Pr. minim, Sp., Pg., & It. minimo; Fr. minime, Pr., Sp., Pg., & It. minima, a minim, a note in music.]

1. Any thing very minute; as, the minims of existence;—applied to animalcula, and the like.
2. The smallest liquid measure; a single drop.
3. A small fish; a minnow. [Prov. Eng.]
4. A little man or being; a dwarf. [Obs.] Milton.
5. (Eccl. Hist.) One of a certain reformed order of Franciscans, who called themselves Minimi.
6. (Mus.) A musical character; a half note equal in time to two quarter notes, or crotchets.

Minims. (6.)

7. A short poetical encomium. [Obs.] Spenser.
8. (Print.) A small kind of type; minion. See MINION.