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minor

 - 10 dictionary results

mi⋅nor

  [mahy-ner]
Use minor in a Sentence
–adjective
1. lesser, as in size, extent, or importance, or being or noting the lesser of two: a minor share.
2. not serious, important, etc.: a minor wound; a minor role.
3. having low rank, status, position, etc.: a minor official.
4. under the legal age of full responsibility.
5. Education. of or pertaining to a field of study constituting a student's minor.
6. Music.
a. (of an interval) smaller by a chromatic half step than the corresponding major interval.
b. (of a chord) having a minor third between the root and the note next above it.
7. of or pertaining to the minority.
8. (initial capital letter) (of two male students in an English public school who have the same surname) being the younger or lower in standing: Jackson Minor sits over here.
–noun
9. a person under the legal age of full responsibility.
10. a person of inferior rank or importance in a specified group, class, etc.
11. Education.
a. a subject or a course of study pursued by a student, esp. a candidate for a degree, subordinately or supplementarily to a major or principal subject or course.
b. a subject for which less credit than a major is granted in college or, occasionally, in high school.
12. Music. a minor interval, chord, scale, etc.
13. Mathematics. the determinant of the matrix formed by crossing out the row and column containing a given element in a matrix.
14. (initial capital letter) Friar Minor.
15. the minors, Sports. the minor leagues.
–verb (used without object)
16. to choose or study as a secondary academic subject or course: to major in sociology and minor in art history.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < L: smaller, less; akin to OE min small, ON minni smaller, Goth minniza younger, Skt mīnāti (he) diminishes, destroys

Synonyms:
1. smaller, inferior, secondary, subordinate. 3. petty, unimportant, small. 9. child, adolescent.

Antonyms:
1. major.

Mi⋅nor

  [mahy-ner]
–noun
a male given name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To minor
mi·nor   (mī'nər)   
adj.  

  1. Lesser or smaller in amount, extent, or size.

  2. Lesser in importance, rank, or stature: a minor politician.

  3. Lesser in seriousness or danger: a minor injury.

  4. Law Being under legal age; not yet a legal adult.

  5. Chiefly British Relating to or being the younger or junior of two pupils with the same surname.

  6. Of or relating to a secondary area of academic specialization.

  7. Logic Dealing with a more restricted category.

  8. Music

    1. Relating to or being a minor scale.

    2. Less in distance by a half step than the corresponding major interval.

    3. Based on a minor scale: a minor key.

n.  

  1. One that is lesser in comparison with others of the same class.

  2. Law One who has not reached full legal age.

    1. A secondary area of specialized academic study, requiring fewer courses or credits than a major.

    2. One studying in a secondary area of specialization: She is a physics minor.

    3. A minor premise.

    4. A minor term.

  4. Logic

    1. A minor premise.

    2. A minor term.

  5. Music A minor key, scale, or interval.

  6. minors Sports The minor leagues of a sport, especially baseball.

intr.v.   mi·nored, mi·nor·ing, mi·nors
To pursue academic studies in a minor field: minored in music.

[Middle English, from Latin; see mei-2 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

minor 
1212, from L. minor "lesser, smaller, junior," formed as a masc./fem. of minus on the mistaken assumption that minus was a neut. comparative (see minus), from PIE base *min- "small" (cf. L. minuere, Gk. minythein, O.E. minsian "to diminish," Skt. miyate "diminishes, declines," Rus. men'she "less"). Some Eng. usages are via O.Fr. menor, from L. minor. Meaning "under-age" (adj.) is from 1579; the noun meaning "under-aged person" is from 1612. The musical sense is from 1694. In U.S. colleges and universities, "subject of study with fewer credits than a major," it is attested from 1890. In the baseball sense, minor league is from 1884; the figurative extension is first recorded 1926.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: mi·nor
Function: noun
: a person who has not yet reached the age of majority —compare ADULT, JUVENILE, MAJOR

Main Entry: minor
Function: adjective
1 a : being less important or serious minor official> minor offense> b : involving, relating to, or dealing with less important matters
2 : having the status of a minor <minor children>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1mi·nor
Pronunciation: 'mI-n&r
Function: adjective
: not serious or involving risk to life <minor illness>minor operation> —compare MAJOR

Main Entry: 2minor
Function: noun
: a person of either sex under the age of legal qualification for adult rights and responsibilities that has traditionallybeen 21 in the U.S. but is now 18 in many states or sometimes less under certain circumstances (as marriage or pregnancy) minor, one ruleof thumb is to obtain written consent from both the minor and the parent or guardian from age 14 up to 21>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

minor mi·nor (mī'nər)
adj.

  1. Lesser or smaller in amount, extent, or size.

  2. Lesser in seriousness or danger.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

minor

person below the legal age of majority or adulthood. The age of majority varies in different countries, and even in different jurisdictions within a country. It also differs with the type of activity concerned, such as marrying, purchasing alcohol, or driving an automobile. Twenty-one years is a common division between minors and adults.

Learn more about minor with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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