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The minim (abbreviated min, ♏︎ or ♍︎) is a unit of volume in both the imperial and U.S. customary systems of measurement. Specifically it is 1⁄60 of a fluid drachm^[1] or 1⁄480 of a fluid ounce.^[2]^[3]

The minim was introduced in the 1809 edition of The Pharmacopœia of the Royal College of Physicians of London as a replacement for the drop, which had previously been the smallest unit of the apothecaries' system.^[4] It was observed that the size of a drop can vary considerably depending upon the viscosity and specific gravity of the liquid. (At the time, the phenomenon of surface tension was not well understood.) The minim, on the other hand, was measured with a graduated glass tube known as a "minimometer",^[5] later known as the minim-tube.^[6] The minim-tube was a type of graduated pipette, a device invented in 1791 by François-Antoine-Henri Descroizilles.

Apothecaries' measures are fully defined in the United Kingdom's Weights and Measures Act 1878, but the UK's Weights and Measures Act 1963 provided for the abolition of the minim, fluid scruple, and fluid drachm, all already obsolete. Actual delegalization occurred on 1 February 1971.

The use of the minim, along with other such measures, has been reduced by the adoption of the metric system, and even in the least metricated countries, pharmacy is largely metricated and the apothecaries' system is deprecated. The unit may rarely persist in some countries in the measurement of dosages of medicine.

Definitions[edit]

Imperial minim	US customary minim
¹⁄₄₈₀ imperial fluid ounce	¹⁄₄₈₀ US fluid ounce
	¹⁄₈₀ US teaspoon
¹⁄₆₀ imperial fluid drachm	¹⁄₆₀ US fluid dram
59.1938802083 microlitres (exactly)	61.611519921875 microlitres (exactly)
≃ 0.0036122322 cubic inches^[7]	0.003759765625 cubic inches (exactly)^[8]
≃ 0.002001583 US fluid ounce	≃ 0.002168422 imperial fluid ounce
0.960759940 US fluid minims	1.040842731 imperial minims

References and notes[edit]

^ also spelled fluidram or fluid dram
^ CIA World Factbook
^ Robert Thomas (médecin) (1819). The modern practice of physic, exhibiting the ... symptoms, prognostics, morbid appearances and improved method of treating the diseases of all climates... Longman. p. xv.
^ Royal College of Physicians of London; Richard Powell (1809). The pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of London, M. DCCC. IX. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme. pp. 6–7.
^ Philological Society (Great Britain) (1814). The European magazine, and London review. Philological Society of London. p. 123.
^ Clara S. Weeks-Shaw (1808). A text-book of nursing: for the use of training schools, families, and private students. D. Appleton. p. 107.
^ This assumes the international inch of exactly 25.4 millimetres.
^ This assumes the international inch of exactly 25.4 millimetres. The US gallon of 231 cubic inches is the same as the English Wine gallon.

External links[edit]

Unicode Miscellaneous Symbols

[1] so spelled fluidram or fluid dram

[2] CIA World Factbook

[(médecin)1819-3] Robert Thomas (médecin) (1819). The modern practice of physic, exhibiting the ... symptoms, prognostics, morbid appearances and improved method of treating the diseases of all climates... Longman. p. xv.

[LondonPowell1809-4] Royal College of Physicians of London; Richard Powell (1809). The pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of London, M. DCCC. IX. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme. pp. 6–7.

[Britain_1814-5] Philological Society (Great Britain) (1814). The European magazine, and London review. Philological Society of London. p. 123.

[Weeks-Shaw1808-6] Clara S. Weeks-Shaw (1808). A text-book of nursing: for the use of training schools, families, and private students. D. Appleton. p. 107.

[inim-7] This assumes the international inch of exactly 25.4 millimetres.

[inus-8] This assumes the international inch of exactly 25.4 millimetres. The US gallon of 231 cubic inches is the same as the English Wine gallon.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 {{Use British (Oxford) English|date=October 2016}}
 {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
-The '''minim''' (abbreviated '''min''', '''[[♏|{{emoji presentation|♏|text}}]]''' or '''[[♍|{{emoji presentation|♍|text}}]]''') is a [[units of measurement|unit]] of [[volume]] in both the [[Imperial unit|imperial]] and [[United States customary units|US customary]] systems of measurement. Specifically it is {{frac|60}} of a [[fluid drachm]]<ref>also spelled ''fluidram'' or ''fluid dram''</ref> or {{frac|480}} of a [[fluid ounce]].<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-g.html CIA World Factbook]</ref><ref name="(médecin)1819">{{cite book|author=Robert Thomas (médecin)|title=The modern practice of physic, exhibiting the ... symptoms, prognostics, morbid appearances and improved method of treating the diseases of all climates...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_laAAAAQAAJ&pg=PAxv#v=onepage&q=Octarius&f=false|accessdate=17 December 2011|year=1819|publisher=Longman|page=xv}}</ref> <!--Commented-out text, assertion: "In the Pharmacopoeia, it is also noted that the minim was originally created by Mr Timothy Lane, [[Fellow of the Royal Society|F.R.S.]], as {{val|61440}} parts per wine gallon."--><!--Questions: "the" Pharmacopoeia? Which one? You mean the [[British Pharmacopoeia]]? If so, then which edition thereof? Feel free to put this sentence back into the article IF a real reference citation is entered. I spent some time trying to verify the assertion using Google Books search, without the £875.00 it takes to get past the paywall of the current edition of the British Pharmacopoeia, but without success. I searched inside various 19th-century editions and Latin-to-English translations of ''The Pharmacopœia of the Royal College of Physicians of London'' but the search claimed to find no "Lane". Example editions: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Pharmacopœia_of_the_Royal_College_o/26hdAAAAcAAJ (1809) and https://www.google.com/books/edition/Translation_of_the_Pharmacopœia_of_the/wd9ZAAAAcAAJ (1851) -->
+The '''minim''' (abbreviated '''min''', '''[[♏|{{emoji presentation|♏|text}}]]''' or '''[[♍|{{emoji presentation|♍|text}}]]''') is a [[units of measurement|unit]] of [[volume]] in both the [[Imperial unit|imperial]] and [[United States customary units|U.S. customary]] systems of measurement. Specifically it is {{frac|60}} of a [[fluid drachm]]<ref>also spelled ''fluidram'' or ''fluid dram''</ref> or {{frac|480}} of a [[fluid ounce]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070613023743/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-g.html CIA World Factbook]</ref><ref name="(médecin)1819">{{cite book|author=Robert Thomas (médecin)|title=The modern practice of physic, exhibiting the ... symptoms, prognostics, morbid appearances and improved method of treating the diseases of all climates...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_laAAAAQAAJ&q=Octarius&pg=PAxv<!--|accessdate=17 December 2011-->|year=1819|publisher=Longman|page=xv}}</ref> <!--Commented-out text, assertion: "In the Pharmacopoeia, it is also noted that the minim was originally created by Mr Timothy Lane, [[Fellow of the Royal Society|F.R.S.]], as {{val|61440}} parts per wine gallon."--><!--Questions: "the" Pharmacopoeia? Which one? You mean the [[British Pharmacopoeia]]? If so, then which edition thereof? Feel free to put this sentence back into the article IF a real reference citation is entered. I spent some time trying to verify the assertion using Google Books search, without the £875.00 it takes to get past the paywall of the current edition of the British Pharmacopoeia, but without success. I searched inside various 19th-century editions and Latin-to-English translations of ''The Pharmacopœia of the Royal College of Physicians of London'' but the search claimed to find no "Lane". Example editions: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Pharmacopœia_of_the_Royal_College_o/26hdAAAAcAAJ (1809) and https://www.google.com/books/edition/Translation_of_the_Pharmacopœia_of_the/wd9ZAAAAcAAJ (1851) -->
-The minim was introduced in the 1809 edition of ''The Pharmacopœia of the Royal College of Physicians of London'' as a replacement for the [[drop (unit)|drop]], which had previously been the smallest unit of the [[apothecaries' system]].<ref name="LondonPowell1809">{{cite book|author1=Royal College of Physicians of London|author2=Richard Powell|title=The pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of London, M. DCCC. IX|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCPrAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA7|accessdate=18 December 2011|year=1809|publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme|pages=6–7}}</ref> It was observed that the size of a drop can vary considerably depending upon the [[viscosity]] and [[specific gravity]] of the liquid. (At the time, the phenomenon of surface tension was not well understood.) The minim, on the other hand, was measured with a graduated glass tube known as a "minimometer",<ref name="Britain_1814">{{cite book|author=Philological Society (Great Britain)|title=The European magazine, and London review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyEYAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA123|accessdate=18 December 2011|year=1814|publisher=Philological Society of London|page=123}}</ref> later known as the minim-tube.<ref name="Weeks-Shaw1808">{{cite book|author=Clara S. Weeks-Shaw|title=A text-book of nursing: for the use of training schools, families, and private students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBttAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA107&dq=minim-tube&hl=en&ei=r9bgTvilEuKXiAKt4dGdDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=minim-tube&f=false|accessdate=18 December 2011|year=1808|publisher=D. Appleton|page=107}}</ref> The minim-tube was a type of graduated [[pipette]], a device invented in 1791 by [[François-Antoine-Henri Descroizilles]].
+The minim was introduced in the 1809 edition of ''The Pharmacopœia of the Royal College of Physicians of London'' as a replacement for the [[drop (unit)|drop]], which had previously been the smallest unit of the [[apothecaries' system]].<ref name="LondonPowell1809">{{cite book|author1=Royal College of Physicians of London|author2=Richard Powell|title=The pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of London, M. DCCC. IX|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCPrAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA7<!--|accessdate=18 December 2011-->|year=1809|publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme|pages=6–7}}</ref> It was observed that the size of a drop can vary considerably depending upon the [[viscosity]] and [[specific gravity]] of the liquid. (At the time, the phenomenon of surface tension was not well understood.) The minim, on the other hand, was measured with a graduated glass tube known as a "minimometer",<ref name="Britain_1814">{{cite book|author=Philological Society (Great Britain)|title=The European magazine, and London review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyEYAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA123<!--|accessdate=18 December 2011-->|year=1814|publisher=Philological Society of London|page=123}}</ref> later known as the minim-tube.<ref name="Weeks-Shaw1808">{{cite book|author=Clara S. Weeks-Shaw|title=A text-book of nursing: for the use of training schools, families, and private students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBttAAAAMAAJ&dq=minim-tube&pg=PA107<!--|accessdate=18 December 2011-->|year=1808|publisher=D. Appleton|page=107}}</ref> The minim-tube was a type of graduated [[pipette]], a device invented in 1791 by [[François-Antoine-Henri Descroizilles]].
-Apothecaries' measures are fully defined in the United Kingdom's Weights and Measures Act of 1878, but the UK's 1963 Weights and Measures Act provided for the abolition of the minim, [[fluid scruple]], and fluid drachm, all already obsolete. Actual delegalization occurred on 1 February 1971.
+Apothecaries' measures are fully defined in the United Kingdom's [[Weights and Measures Act 1878]], but the UK's [[Weights and Measures Act 1963]] provided for the abolition of the minim, [[fluid scruple]], and fluid drachm, all already obsolete. Actual delegalization occurred on 1 February 1971.
 The use of the minim, along with other such measures, has been reduced by the adoption of the [[metric system]], and even in the least [[metrication|metricated]] countries, pharmacy  is largely metricated and the [[apothecaries' system]] is deprecated. The unit may rarely persist in some countries in the measurement of dosages of medicine.
 ==Definitions==
-{|class=wikitable
+{| class="wikitable"
+|'''Imperial minim'''
+|'''US customary minim'''
 |-
+|<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>480</sub> imperial fluid  ounce
-! Imperial minim!!US customary minim
+|<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>480</sub> US fluid ounce
 |-
+|
-|style="vertical-align:top;"| 1 imperial minim<br>
+|<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>80</sub> US teaspoon
-&#61; {{frac|480}} imperial fluid ounce<br><br>
+|-
-&#61; {{frac|60}} imperial fluid drachm<br>
+|<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>60</sub> imperial fluid  drachm
-&#61; {{val|59.193880208}}<span style="text-decoration: overline">3</span> [[microlitre]]s (exactly)<ref name=impgal>{{cite web
+|<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>60</sub> US fluid dram
-          |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1995/1804/schedule/made
+|-
-          |title=The Units of Measurement Regulations 1995 SCHEDULE RELEVANT IMPERIAL UNITS, etc.
+|{{val|59.1938802083}} microlitres (exactly)
-          |date=20 September 2000
+|{{val|61.611519921875}} microlitres (exactly)
-          |accessdate=18 April 2006}}</ref><ref>The notation ''<span style="text-decoration: overline">3</span>'' indicates that the digit 3 is repeated infinitely.</ref><br>
+|-
-≃ {{val|0.002001583}} US fluid ounce<br>
+|≃ 0.0036122322 cubic inches<ref name="inim">This assumes the international inch of exactly 25.4 millimetres.</ref>
-&#61; {{val|0.960759940}} US fluid minims<br>
+|0.003759765625 cubic inches (exactly)<ref name="inus">This assumes the international inch of exactly 25.4 millimetres. The US gallon of 231 cubic inches is the same as the English [[Wine gallon]].</ref>
-| 1 US minim<br>
+|-
-&#61; {{frac|480}} US fluid ounce<br>
+|≃ 0.002001583 US  fluid ounce
-&#61; {{frac|80}} US teaspoon<br>
+|≃ 0.002168422 imperial  fluid ounce
-&#61; {{frac|60}} US fluid drachm<br>
+|-
-&#61; {{val|61.611519921875}} microlitres (exactly)<ref name=in>This assumes the international inch of exactly 25.4 millimetres. The US gallon of 231 cubic inches is the same as the English [[Wine gallon]].</ref><br>
-≃ {{val|0.002168422}} imperial fluid ounce<br>
+|0.960759940 US  fluid minims
-&#61; {{val|1.040842731}} imperial minims<br>
+|1.040842731 imperial minims
-&#61; {{val|0.003759765625}} cubic inches (exactly)
 |}
-imperial minim = 0.0591939 ml (0.059 ml)
-US minim = 0.0616115 ml (0.062 ml)
 ==References and notes==
 <references/>
+== External links ==
+* [https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2600.pdf Unicode Miscellaneous Symbols]
+{{Imperial units}}
+{{United States Customary Units}}
 [[Category:Units of volume]]
 [[Category:Customary units of measurement in the United States]]
 [[Category:Imperial units]]
-== External links ==
-* [https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2600.pdf Unicode Miscellaneous Symbols]