Minor

How to spell minor

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce minor

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does minor mean?

1. adjectiveOf lesser importance, size, or seriousness when compared with something else.
2. nounA person who is under the legal age of adulthood.
3. adjectiveDescribing a musical scale or key with a third that is a semitone lower, giving a darker sound.

Minor in a sentence

• adjective

  The report listed only a few minor errors in the accounts.

• noun

  The bar refuses to serve alcohol to any minor.

• adjective

  The piece shifts into a minor key for the sombre middle section.

• adjective

  She suffered a minor injury and was back at work the next day.

• noun

  As a minor, he needed a parent to sign the consent form.

• adjective

  She practised the A minor scale until her fingers ached.

Where does minor come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes straight from the Latin minor, meaning 'smaller' or 'lesser', the comparative of the adjective related to minus, 'less'. The same root runs through a whole family of English words about reduction and smallness, including 'minus', 'minimum', 'minute' (the tiny measure of time) and even 'minister', a person who was originally a lesser servant. English adopted minor in the medieval period, partly through the language of the church and the universities, where Latin was the working tongue. Over time it gathered its modern senses: something of lesser importance, a person below the legal age of adulthood, and a musical scale with a characteristically darker sound. The spelling trap is purely aural, because minor sounds exactly like 'miner', the person who digs underground, so the meaning of the sentence is the only guide to which one you want.

How the word is built

• minor (Latin: smaller, lesser); a comparative form with no separable prefix or suffix in English

Words that sound like minor

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• miner: A person who works underground extracting coal, ore, or other minerals.