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This is fascinating. The Arabic words for minute (as in 1/60 hr) and second (as in 1/60 min) are the same as the words for minute (as in very small) and second (ordinal number 2). And English, it seems, got it from the Arabs via Medieval Latin.
Wiktionaryثانية - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
@ajlanes Same in Hebrew, unsurprisingly I suppose. דק/דקה and שני/שניה, which are cognate to the Arabic words. I'm not sure whether Hebrew got it from Arabic or whether they both got it from common Semitic roots, though.
@cjwatson The suggestion from that Wikipedia article (which I’ve not researched further so may be total bobbins) is that it’s from the flourishing of science in the Islamic world, although that’s a world that’s always had Jews in so 
@ajlanes I can easily believe it's of Arabic origin due to sheer numbers of mediaeval scientists. Just wondered, as Wiktionary's etymology wasn't clear either way