Minimal
/ˈmɪn.ɪ.məl/ adj, noun
adj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Something very small; a tiny part or fragment.
"[…] we seek in explaining mental phenomena and behavior always the "minimals," the little fragments of association, on which the mind is (passively) supposed to be based."
Adjective
- 1 The smallest possible amount, quantity, or degree.
"With minimal effort, you won't be able to achieve all your dreams."
- 2 The smallest possible amount, quantity, or degree.; Among elements of some collection, such that no other element is greater (with respect to some given partial order).
"With respect to the ordering induced by set-theoretic inclusion, the power set of the set of natural numbers has a unique minimal element: the empty set."
- 3 Characterised by the use of simple form or structures.
- 4 Characterised by the repetition and gradual alteration of short phrases.
Adjective
- 1 the least possible wordnet
Example
More examples"Just as water, gas, and electricity are brought into our houses from far off to satisfy our needs in response to a minimal effort, so we shall be supplied with visual or auditory images, which will appear and disappear at a simple movement of the hand, hardly more than a sign."
Etymology
From minimum + -al.