If you say that someone keeps something to a minimum, or to the minimum, you mean that they keep the amount of it as small as possible. Office machinery is kept to a minimum. the minimum number, degree, or amount of something is the smallest or least that is possible, allowed, or needed maximum. In mathematics, a point at which the value of a function is lowest. If the value is less than or equal to all other function values, it is an absolute minimum. If it is merely less than at any nearby point, it is a relative, or local, minimum. In calculus, the derivative equals zero or does not exist at a function's minimum point. See also maximum, optimization
(pl minima) A feasible point at which the infimum is achieved (See Weierstrass' Theorem ) An e-minimum is within e of being a minimum: f(x) <= f* + e, where f* is the infimum and e > 0
The lowest value in a group of values Multivariate analysis Analysis of more than two variables Social scientists, public policy analysts and public administrators often want to examine three or more variables to see whether or not they are related to each other and how much explanatory power different independent variables have on a dependent variable Correlation analysis involving three or more variables is an example of multivariate analysis
You use minimum to state how small an amount is. The basic needs of life are available with minimum effort Neil and Chris try to spend the minimum amount of time on the garden. Minimum is also a noun. With a minimum of fuss, she produced the grandson he had so desperately wished for
You use at a minimum, or at the minimum, when you want to indicate that something is the very least which could or should happen. This would take three months at a minimum at the maximum