minor

Less common meanings

7. 7
   the intervalnounabbreviationellipsis

   In music, short for minor key, minor mode, minor scale, minor chord or minor interval, with the noun left understood, as in a shift into the minor.

   Of the two thirds stacked in that chord, the lower is the major and the upper the minor.

   After the bright opening theme, the composer turns abruptly to the minor, and the whole mood darkens.

   UsageWith the: a shift into the minor, from the major into the minor.

   Note

   The missing word may be key, mode, chord, triad, scale or interval, and the surrounding sentence decides which. Written out in full, minor interval covers the minor second, third, sixth and seventh. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Musical minor can be an ellipsis of minor key, mode, chord, triad, scale or interval. en.wiktionary.org
   • Minor intervals include minor seconds, thirds, sixths and sevenths. en.wikipedia.org
8. 8
   study as secondverbintransitive

   To pursue a subject as a secondary field of undergraduate study, used with the particle in.

   Many engineering students minor in business to broaden their options.

   Although she is majoring in chemistry, she decided to minor in Spanish so she could work abroad.

   Oppositemajor

   Note

   The verb can stand alone when the field is left unspecified. Its forms are regular (minors, minoring, minored), and it belongs to the same campus vocabulary as the noun for the secondary field.

9. 9
   nouncountable

   A person, group, or thing of lesser rank or importance than another.

   Mr Gloss'em, who is a shining character in the theatrical world, at least among the minors of the metropolis.

   1821, Pierce Egan, Real Life in London...

   He plays in the minors.

   Similarjunior, subordinate, underling, lightweight

   Note

   The noun takes its meaning from whatever field is doing the ranking. In sport a minor can be a smaller tournament ('she hasn't won a minor since the Sichuan Open'). In criticism it is a lesser work ('one of his minors'). In Real Life in London (1821), it names the lesser theaters of the metropolis. In baseball, the minors are the lower leagues. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • The sporting example reproduces an illustrative sentence, without identifying a real speaker or player. en.wiktionary.org
   • The criticism example occurs in an illustrative sentence. en.wiktionary.org
   • Real Life in London began publication in 1821. gutenberg.org
   • The book uses minors for the lesser London theaters. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    adjectiveCanadaUS

    Relating to a secondary area of undergraduate study, smaller than the student's main subject.

    He completed the minor requirements alongside his engineering degree.

    Her minor concentration in Spanish required only four courses.

    Similarsecondary, subsidiary

    Oppositemajor, main

    Note

    Here the noun for the secondary field of study is used as a modifier: the minor requirements, a minor concentration. The usage belongs to Canadian and US college life, where degrees are built from a major and an optional minor. Outside that system it can puzzle readers, who may take minor requirements to mean unimportant ones. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • A minor can be optional in Canadian undergraduate programs. uvic.ca
    • A minor can be optional in US undergraduate programs. advising.ucsd.edu
11. 11
    nounCanadaUScountable

    A student who is completing or has completed a secondary field of undergraduate study.

    As a Spanish minor, he spent a semester abroad in Seville.

    The department advises its minors separately from its majors.

    Oppositemajor

    Note

    When the word names a person, the subject comes first as a modifier: an English minor, a Spanish minor. This use is common in campus talk, but it can be ambiguous, because 'an English minor' may also mean the course of study itself. The clearer phrasing is often 'she is minoring in English.'

12. 12
    hockey penaltynounabbreviationellipsis

    Short for minor penalty: in ice hockey, two minutes in the penalty box, ended early if the other team scores on the resulting power play.

    Two players sat in the box after taking a minor each in the first period.

    Late in the third period, a careless minor for tripping sent him to the box and handed the other team a power play.

    Note

    Hockey scoresheets sort penalties by type, and a minor is the two-minute kind. Since the 1956–57 NHL season it can end early if the other team scores on the power play it creates. Players take a minor, and the plural tallies a period's infractions. The Montreal Gazette's report of December 30, 1924, already records a first period of 'all minors.' Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Hockey scoresheets distinguish penalty types, including two-minute minors. alaskahockeyofficials.com
    • The NHL introduced early termination of a minor penalty following an opposing power-play goal in the 1956–57 season. records.nhl.com
    • The Montreal Gazette of December 30, 1924 records first-period penalties as 'all minors.' en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    adjectivedatedUK

    In British school usage, denoting the younger of two pupils, or the middle of three, who share a surname.

    Carter minor reported to the prefects' room while his older brother waited outside.

    He whipt her with a foxes taile, Barnes minor,

    c. 1593, Henry Chettle, Kind-harts Dreame

    UsageAfter the surname: Wells minor, with the elder brother Wells major.

    Similarjunior

    Oppositemajor, senior

    Note

    This is schoolroom naming, now dated. The word follows the surname, as in Barnes minor or Pattullo Minor, and the capital is optional. The elder pupil is styled major. By the time J. I. M. Stewart's Full Term (1978) recalls the boyhood escapades of Pattullo Minor, the label already carries a whiff of the old school register. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • Minor was used in British school naming for the younger pupil sharing a surname. en.wiktionary.org
    • Barnes minor is an attested example with minor following the surname in lowercase. en.wiktionary.org
    • The elder pupil was styled major. en.wiktionary.org
    • J. I. M. Stewart wrote Full Term, first published in 1978. en.wikipedia.org
    • Full Term recalls the character's schoolboy escapades. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    noun

    The determinant of a smaller square matrix formed by deleting one or more rows and columns from a matrix.
15. 15
    adjective

    Relating to a minor of a matrix, the determinant found after removing one or more of its rows and columns.
16. 16
    noun

    Short for minor term or minor premise: in logic, the term that is the subject of a syllogism's conclusion, or the premise that contains it.
17. 17
    adjective

    In logic, designating the subject term of a categorical syllogism's conclusion, or the premise containing it.
18. 18
    noun

    Short for minor suit: in bridge, either of the two lower-ranking suits, clubs or diamonds, or a player's cards in one of them.
19. 19
    nounAustralian

    In Australian rules football, a one-point score, also called a behind.
20. 20
    noun

    Any of various noctuid moths found in Europe and Asia, chiefly in the genera Oligia and Mesoligia.
21. 21
    noun

    In a leaf-cutter ant colony, a worker sized between the smaller minims and the larger medias.
22. 22
    noun

    In change ringing, a series of changes rung on six bells.
23. 23
    noun

    Short for graph minor: in graph theory, a graph obtainable from another graph by zero or more vertex deletions, edge deletions, or edge contractions.
24. 24
    adjective

    In early music notation, relating to the relationship between the longa and the breve in a score.
25. 25
    adjective

    In early music notation, having semibreves twice as long as a minim.
26. 26
    adjectiveobsolete

    Belonging to or connected with a political party that holds fewer seats or votes than the majority.

    In every other, the minor will be preferred by me to the major vote.

    1796, Thomas Jefferson, letter
27. 27
    noun

    A smaller score once awarded for certain plays in a game, short for minor point.

    At half-time the score was—one goal, three tries, and four minors.

    1883, York Herald
28. 28
    nounobsolete

    In older law, a young person who has passed the legally fixed puberty age but is not yet a full adult.
29. 29
    nounobsolete

    In arithmetic, the number that is taken away from another, now called the subtrahend.
30. 30
    nounobsoleteUK

    In British schools, the younger of two brothers attending the same school.

    Let my minor pass, you fellows!... Here, Chudleigh, just make room there.

    1864, Eton School Days