minor
Noun pluralminors
Pluralminors
Formsminors, minoring, minored
- 1Small, or less important, serious, or good than other things of the same kind.
Like a tiny bump in the road instead of a big hole.
We had a minor delay but still arrived on time.
Only minor repairs were needed before the trip.
UsageSay smaller than, not minor than.
Similarsmall, slight, trivial, minimal, lesser
Oppositemajor, serious, significant
- 2
- 3Short for minor league. The lower levels of pro sports, where players play before reaching the top league.
The team sent the rookie down to the minors for more practice.
Most stars once played in the minors.
UsageSay a player is in the minors.
Note
- 4A smaller second subject you study in college, with fewer classes than your main one.
Like a small extra subject beside your main one.
She chose a minor in music.
His minor is Spanish, and his major is business.
UsageSay a minor in math.
Oppositemajor
Note
- 5In music, describing a key, chord, or gap between notes that often sounds sad or dark.
Like the gloomy music in a movie when something bad is about to happen.
The sad part of the song is played in a minor key.
He played a minor chord and the mood changed at once.
UsageSay a minor key or C minor.
Oppositemajor
Note
- 6
Less common meanings
- 7In music, a minor key, scale, chord or interval, when the word minor is used on its own.
The song starts happily, then slips into the minor near the end.
The last verse is sung in the minor, so it sounds sad.
UsageSay the music moves into the minor.
Note
- 8To study a subject as your smaller second subject in college.
I want to minor in music next year.
He chose to minor in history.
Oppositemajor
Note
- 9A person or thing that is lower in rank or less important than others.
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
- 10About a student's smaller second subject in college.
Like a smaller side dish next to the main meal.
She took her minor classes in art this semester.
The minor courses were easier than her main ones.
Similarsecondary, subsidiary
Note
- 11A student who is studying or has studied a smaller second subject in college.
Like someone who plays a second sport beside their main one.
She is a music minor at the university.
The art minors share a studio downstairs.
Oppositemajor
Note
- 12Short for minor penalty. In hockey, a player must leave the ice for two minutes.
The referee gave him a minor for tripping near the boards.
She killed off the minor without letting the other team score.
Note
- 13Used after a name in some British schools to mark the younger of two pupils with the same last name.
Like calling the younger of two brothers 'the little one' to tell them apart.
Brown minor sat just behind his elder brother in the same classroom.
He whipt her with a foxes taile, Barnes minor,
c. 1593, Henry Chettle, Kind-harts DreameHere, minor names the younger of two pupils with the same last name.UsageThe older pupil is called Smith major.
Similarjunior
Note
- 14In math, a number worked out from a square block left after removing some rows and columns from a grid of numbers.
- 15In math, about a number worked out from a grid of numbers after crossing out some rows and columns.
- 16Short for minor term or minor premise: in logic, the subject of a conclusion, or the premise that contains it.
- 17In logic, describing the subject of a syllogism's conclusion, or the premise that contains it.
- 18Short for minor suit: in bridge, clubs or diamonds, the two lower-ranking suits.
- 19In Australian football, a score worth just one point, also called a behind.
- 20A small brownish night-flying moth found across Europe and Asia.
- 21A medium-sized worker ant in a leaf-cutter colony, bigger than the smallest workers but smaller than the largest.
- 22In bell ringing, a set of changes rung on six bells.
- 23Short for graph minor. It is a smaller graph made by deleting and merging parts of a bigger one.
- 24In old music writing, describing how a long note relates to a shorter note called a breve.
- 25In old music writing, describing notes where a semibreve lasts twice as long as a smaller note called a minim.
- 26Having to do with a political party that is not in the majority.
In every other, the minor will be preferred by me to the major vote.
1796, Thomas Jefferson, letter - 27A small score once given in a game.
At half-time the score was—one goal, three tries, and four minors.
1883, York Herald - 28In old law, a young person past the age set for puberty but not yet a legal adult.
- 29The number you take away in a subtraction.
- 30A boy whose older brother is at his school too.
Let my minor pass, you fellows!... Here, Chudleigh, just make room there.
1864, Eton School Days
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Latin "minor," meaning "lesser" or "younger." It came into Middle English both directly and through French.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English minor derives from Latin minor. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin minor means lesser or younger. en.wiktionary.org
- The word entered Middle English directly from Latin and through French. en.wiktionary.org