What is a Minute?

The minute equals exactly 60 seconds and is the universal unit for short durations in daily and professional life. Its base-60 origin traces to ancient Babylonian astronomy, where the sexagesimal (base 60) system was used for celestial calculations because 60 has many divisors (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60), making fractions easy. The minute is the standard for cooking times, exercise durations, meeting lengths, train and flight schedules, and music tempos (BPM). The minute relates to the second (1 min = 60 s) and the hour (60 min = 1 h). Despite proposals to decimalize time during the French Revolution (10-hour days with 100-minute hours), the sexagesimal system endured. The minute also has subdivisions in geography (1° latitude = 60 minutes of arc) and astronomy.

Visual reference for how the minute relates to other time units. Each row links to the full converter for that pair.

• Meeting, appointment and class durations
• Cooking times (pasta 10 min, bread 30 min)
• Exercise interval timing

• ✓1 min = 60 s. 60 min = 1 h.
• ✓Use min (not m, which is metre) to avoid confusion.
• ✓Standard calendar software uses 5, 15, 30, 60 min blocks.

• ✗Writing 1:30 meaning 1 minute 30 seconds versus 1 hour 30 minutes — always add units.
• ✗Using "m" for minute in scientific context — m is metre; use min.
• ✗Over-estimating minute durations — 5 min feels longer when stressed.