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minor Definition

mi·nor (mī′nər)

adjective

    1. lesser in size, amount, number, or extent
    2. lesser in importance or rank
  2. under full legal age (usually either eighteen or twenty-one years)
  3. Archaic constituting the minority: said of a party, etc.
  4. sad; melancholy; plaintive: from the identification in Occidental music of the minor key with such qualities
  5. ☆ Educ. designating or of a field of study in which students specialize, but less so than in their major
  6. Music
    1. designating an imperfect interval smaller than the corresponding major interval by a semitone
    2. characterized by minor intervals, scales, etc. the minor key
    3. designating a triad having a minor third
    4. based on the scale pattern of the minor mode

Etymology: ME menour < L minor < IE *minu-, small < base *mei-, to lessen > Gr meiōn, less, ON minni, smaller

intransitive verb

☆ Educ. to make some subject one's minor field of study to minor in art

noun

  1. a person under full legal age, who has not yet acquired all civil rights
  2. ☆ Educ. a minor subject or field of study
  3. Music a minor interval, key, etc.

minor Idioms

the minors

☆

the minor leagues, esp. in baseball

minor Synonyms

minor

modif.

secondary, lesser, insignificant; see trivial, unimportant.

minor Synonyms

minor

n.

person under eighteen, person under twenty-one, underage person, boy, girl, child, infant, little one, lad, slip, spring, schoolboy, schoolgirl, lassie, miss, maid; see also youth 3.

minor Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • protect: All the necessary technology is in place to protect minors from viewing such material.
  • prevent: Without doubt it can be established that security measures can be put in place to prevent minors from viewing.

Adjective modifier

  • unaccompanied: Local immigration officers are obliged to notify the local authority of the arrival of an unaccompanied minor.
  • sharp: They're going get a symphony orchestra to back me up with stuff that I wrote in F sharp minor and stuff.
  • flat: AUGUST 2006 Listen to Ll&#375;r Williams Chopin - Scherzo in B flat minor, Op.

Modifies a noun

  • amendment: Minor amendments of the Companies Act 1985 SCHEDULE 20.
  • ailment: This is less likely in adults, however having a minor ailment can reduce a person's seizure threshold, making seizures more likely.
  • injury: Many local GPs provide sessions handling minor injuries in A&E.
  • modification: Most designers start by making minor modifications to the designs of others.
  • adjustment: Note there were minor adjustments in the official English text on Thursday January 19, 2006.
  • alteration: Planning Permission Most minor alterations to homes don't need planning permission.

Used with adjective complement

  • appear: What appears minor in isolation, may be the tip of a trend that can be avoided, and a life saved.

Modifying Another Word

  • relatively: Relatively minor symptoms affect the eyes in about half of people with Graves ' disease.
  • comparatively: Faroukh Ruzimatov is particularly good but is in a comparatively minor role.
  • fairly: Some fairly minor amendments to the voluntary Statements of Practice had been made.
  • however: Any person involved in an accident that affects the eyes, however minor, must be seen by a doctor.
  • apparently: Types of incidents vary from the extremely serious to the apparently minor.
  • very: First, the cancer charities are very minor buyers of services.

Preposition: in

  • comparison: There are other aspects to the gameplay but they are minor in comparison and even a bit irritating at times.
  • king: George had now died, leaving his son John as a minor in the king 's ward.
minor Quotes

In the spacious highways of books major or minor, each poet is allowed the stride that will get him where he wants to go if,God help him, he can hit that stride and keep it.

—Sandburg, Carl