Minterm and Maxterm

Minterms

For each row of the truth table, create an AND of the literals according to the following rule: If a variable has value 1 in the row, include its +ve literal. If a variable x has value 0 in the row, include its –ve literal.

The resulting AND of each literal is called a MINTERM.

Maxterms

For each row of the truth table, create an OR of the literals according to the following rule: If a variable x has value 0 in the row, include its +ve literal. If a variable x has value 1 in the row, include its –ve literal.

The resulting OR of each literal is called a MAXTERM.

The designation is just reading the thing in binary.