Minutiae

Minutiae (/mˈnjuːʃɪ.iː/; singular minutia /mˈnjuːʃɪ.ə/; both also pronounced /mˈnjuːʃə/) are, in everyday English, minor or incidental details.

In biometrics and forensic science, minutiae are major features of a fingerprint, using which comparisons of one print with another can be made. Minutiae include:

• Ridge ending – the abrupt end of a ridge
• Ridge bifurcation – a single ridge that divides into two ridges
• Short ridge, or independent ridge – a ridge that commences, travels a short distance and then ends
• Island – a single small ridge inside a short ridge or ridge ending that is not connected to all other ridges
• Ridge enclosure – a single ridge that bifurcates and reunites shortly afterward to continue as a single ridge
• Spur – a bifurcation with a short ridge branching off a longer ridge
• Crossover or bridge – a short ridge that runs between two parallel ridges
• Delta – a Y-shaped ridge meeting
• Core – a U-turn in the ridge pattern

See also

• De minimis