minor
minor Lexical Profile
minor Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Lesser in importance, seriousness, degree, or significance.
"The editor suggested only a few minor revisions to the final manuscript."
Relating to a musical scale, key, or chord in which the third note is a minor third above the tonic, often perceived as having a melancholic or solemn quality.
"Beethoven's famous Fifth Symphony opens dramatically in the key of C minor."
Under the legal age of full adult responsibility or majority.
"The legal trust will manage the estate on behalf of the couple's minor children."
• noun
A person who is under the legal age of full adult responsibility and rights.
"In most jurisdictions, a minor cannot enter into a legally binding contract without parental consent."
North American A secondary academic subject or field of study pursued by a college or university student alongside a primary major, or a student studying such a subject.
"She completed a degree in computer science with a minor in linguistics."
A musical key, scale, or interval based on a minor third above the tonic.
"The composer shifted the melody from F major into the relative minor."
• verb
North American To pursue a secondary academic subject or field of concentration at a college or university (typically followed by 'in').
"He majored in economics and minored in history during his undergraduate years."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'minor' (lesser in importance or under legal age) with its homophone 'miner' (a person who works in a mine). Unlike typical comparative adjectives, 'minor' does not take 'than' (use 'minor compared to' instead).
• Rhymes for minor
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the 13th century via Old French from Latin 'minor' ('less, smaller, inferior'), which serves as the irregular comparative of 'parvus' ('small') from the Proto-Indo-European root *mei- ('small').