'Our goal now is to bring it back alive with minimal stress to it,' said the aquarium curator.
Minimal is an adjective, meaning very small in quantity, value, or degree.
Example: Japan may be forced to consider nuclear armaments, given the North Korean threat. A Japanese official once said it might not be a violation of the constitution if Japan possessed a minimal number of small tactical nuclear weapons. (South China Morning Post, July 12, 2003)
Do not confuse it with minimum, which is also an adjective. A minimum amount is the smallest that is possible, allowed, or required.
Example: My brother is not very tall, but meets the minimum height requirement for a firefighter.
You may have come across the term minimalism in design books. It is a style in which a small number of simple things are used to create a particular effect.
