Minute
A minute is:
- a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour and to 60 seconds. (Some rare minutes have 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second.)
- a unit of angle, 1/60th of a degree. It is then also known as a minute of angle or minute of arc, and can further be divided into 60 seconds of arc.
The symbol for a minute of arc is a prime (′) (U+2032, ′). For example, fifteen minutes could be written 15′. However, more commonly an apostrophe, or single quote (U+0027), is used.
The Earth turns on its polar axis through fifteen minutes of arc in every minute of time. A minute of arc at the Earth's equator is approximately a nautical mile.
An hour likely contains 60 minutes due to influences from the Babylonians, who used a base-60 counting system.