"Minutes" "memoranda"

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

Do all of these words have the same meaning?

1. "Minute" ="memorandum".

2. "Minutes"="memoranda".

3. "Minutes" official record of a meeting.

 

[GoesStation]

Number 3 is correct in American English. The others are wrong.

 

[teechar]

As far as I know, "minutes" does not equate to "memo" in any native variety of English.

 

[Rachel Adams]

As far as I know, "minutes" does not equate to "memo" in any native variety of English.

It's from Englishstackexchange forum.
A - (1) minute, singular: a memorandum, (2) minutes, plural: memoranda; (3) minutes, plural: official record of a meeting. So, (1) and (2) are the singular and plural versions of each other, while (3) is only plural (but is a specialised use of (2)). In the UK at least, (3) is significantly more common than (1)/(2). Nearly every local club or society has "minutes" (pl., (3)), whereas "a minute", sg, is virtually restricted to usage by government, diplomats, lawyers, etc.

 

[teechar]

That's new to me.

 

[Rachel Adams]

That's new to me.

An additional comment.
I only meant that in my experience, it is rare to use "a minute" (in the sense of "a memorandum") in everyday life. The main place I've come across is in press reporting of internal government memoranda, e.g. "A senior Foreign Office official sent a minute to an adviser to Jack Straw, the then foreign secretary, warning about the discrepancy" (

 

[Tarheel]

An additional comment.
I only meant that in my experience, it is rare to use "a minute" (in the sense of "a memorandum") in everyday life. The main place I've come across is in press reporting of internal government memoranda, e.g. "A senior Foreign Office official sent a minute to an adviser to Jack Straw, the then foreign secretary, warning about the discrepancy" (

That would be a memo. (American English)

 

[Rachel Adams]

That's new to me.

Is it wrong?

 

[GoesStation]

An additional comment.
I only meant that in my experience, it is rare to use "a minute" (in the sense of "a memorandum") in everyday life.

Quakers — that is, the Religious Society of Friends, a rather unusual Christian denomination — use the term "minute" to mean something like "rule agreed to by consensus". As far as I know, that's the only context where you'd see that meaning.

 

[PeterCW]

Is it wrong?

No but it is not normally found outside of the British Civil Service.

 

[Rachel Adams]

No but it is not normally found outside of the British Civil Service.

I see. But 1 and 2 have similar meanings but 3 has a different meaning as far I understand. Am I wrong?

 

[Rachel Adams]

#1 and #2 have the same meaning, except that one is singular and the other is plural.

Yes, but regarding their meanings especially # 3? Are all the three synonymous?

 

[GoesStation]

Yes, but regarding their meanings especially # 3? Are all the three synonymous?

Re-read posts 2, 3, 4, 8, and 13.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Re-read posts 2, 3, 4, 8, and 13.

Most of you say they are not synonymous but maybe it is used in the civil service context only and that's what was mentioned on that forum?

 

[Rachel Adams]

Memorandum/memoranda and official record of a meeting are not synonyms.

Unlike what has been written on that forum. A minute=memorandum. Minutes=memoranda. OK. I see. It is interesting to know why "minutes" and "minute" are listed with words that change their meanings in plural. With such words as "wood" and "woods", "compass" and "compasses". Maybe the book shows that "minutes" are the written record and "minute(s)" deals with "time"?

 

[jutfrank]

Maybe the book shows that "minutes" are the written record and "minute(s)" deals with "time"?

Yes, I'm sure that that's what the book is saying.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hello.

Do all of these words have the same meaning?

No.

1. "Minute" ="memorandum".

No. A minute is sixty seconds.

2. "Minutes"="memoranda".

No. If you're referring to meeting minutes, minutes are the notes one of the officers (often the secretary) takes. The minutes go into the formal record of the meeting.

3. "Minutes" are the official record of a meeting.

Yes.

A memorandum (usually called a memo) is a written workplace message. It can be long or short and can go to one person or many. The plural is memoranda (or memos).

Meeting minutes are not memos.

 

[SoothingDave]

A memorandum (usually called a memo) is a written workplace message. It can be long or short and can go to one person or many. The plural is memoranda (or memos).

Meeting minutes are not memos.

Exactly. A memo is not minutes of a meeting.