minutia

A minor detail, often of negligible importance.

They spent all their time on minutiae, never making real progress.

I think I can ſee the preciſe and diſtinguiſhing marks of national characters more in theſe nonſenſical minutiæ, than in the moſt important matters of ſtate ; where great men of all nations talk and ſtalk ſo much alike, that I would not give ninepence to chuſe amongſt them.

Any of the point features on fingerprints used for matching, usually endings and bifurcations of ridges.