Nearby Words
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.
EXPANDEducation. 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.
COLLAPSE(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, especially 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.
EXPANDMathematics. the determinant of the matrix formed by crossing out the row and column containing a given element in a matrix.
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Minoring
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
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; Middle English < Latin: smaller, less; akin to Old English min small, Old Norse minni smaller, Gothic minniza younger, Sanskrit mīnāti (he) diminishes, destroys
1250–1300; Middle English < Latin: smaller, less; akin to Old English min small, Old Norse minni smaller, Gothic minniza younger, Sanskrit mīnāti (he) diminishes, destroys
Synonyms
1. smaller, inferior, secondary, subordinate. 3. petty, unimportant, small. 9. child, adolescent.
1. smaller, inferior, secondary, subordinate. 3. petty, unimportant, small. 9. child, adolescent.
Antonyms
1. major.
1. major.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To minoring
Etymonline
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,"
EXPANDRus. 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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
minor mi·nor (mī'nər)
adj.
Lesser or smaller in amount, extent, or size.
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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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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