minore

Forms

minore (plural minori)^[1] An old form is Old Italian menore.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin minor (“smaller, lesser”), from the accusative ⟨minōrem⟩.^[3][4][5][1] The Latin word served as the comparative of Latin parvus (“small”),^[4][6][7] and was made from the neuter minus (“less”), the source of meno, in the same way as maior beside maius.^[3][8]

The same word is Old French meneur, Old Occitan menhor, Catalan menor, Spanish menor and Portuguese menor;^[4][9] French moindre continues the nominative.^[4][9] The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *minōs and a root Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small”), which also gave Ancient Greek μείων (meíōn, “smaller”) and Russian меньший (menʹšij, “smaller”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Giamboni, before 1292, in the sense “smaller in size, extent or intensity”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian soon used the word of rank and importance: “of secondary importance” in Latini (before 1294), menor om “a man of lower rank” in Guittone, and minor donna in Francesco da Barberino.^[3] Legal Florentine had minore “minor, underage person” in 1355, and the sense “younger” is recorded from 1544.^[3] In music the word describes intervals a semitone smaller than the major ones and the chords built on them, from the 16th century.^[10][11] French borrowed it as a musical term in 1703, and German has Minore from 1802.^[11]

The derivative minoranza “minority” appears before 1855 and took the political sense of a smaller group of citizens in 1866; the political use of minorità and minoritario follows French.^[3][4] Minorenne “underage” (1812) was modelled on other compounds in -enne.^[4][3]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Giamboni uses minore “smaller”.^[3]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for “of secondary importance”.^[3]
• 1355 – Florentine ordinances use it for an underage person.^[3]
• 1544 – Betussi uses it for “younger”.^[3]
• 1571 – The musical sense is recorded.^[11]
• 1735 – Muratori uses it for “less serious”.^[3]
• 1812 – Minorenne is recorded.^[4]
• Before 1855 – Rosmini uses minoranza.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Comparative of piccolo: smaller, less in size, extent or amount: un affitto minore di quello dell'anno scorso.^[5][6][7]
2. With the definite article, the smallest, the least: al minor prezzo.^[5][6]
3. Less intense, less serious: il male minore, the lesser evil.^[5][6][12]
4. Of lesser importance or rank; minor: le opere minori of an author, his less important works.^[5][13][14]
5. Younger; after a name, the younger of two people of the same name: Catone minore, Cato the Younger, or la sorella minore.^[13][14]
6. In names of places and stars: Asia Minore, Orsa Minore.^[6][12]
7. (music) Of an interval, key or chord, minor.^[11][1]
8. (logic) premessa minore, the minor premise of a syllogism.^[13]

Noun

1. The younger or youngest of a group of people.^[1][15]
2. (law) A minor, a person under age, minorenne.^[3][1][15]
3. (mathematics) A minor of a matrix.^[1]

Word family

• minoranza
• minorare
• minorasco
• minorato
• minorazione
• minorenne
• minorile
• minorità
• minoritario
• minormente
• minorista

Related words

• meno
• minimo
• maggiore
• Latin minor

Usage notes

Minore is often shortened to minor before a noun, especially before a consonant.^[7] Battaglia records a jargon minore “miner” among the miners of the Aosta Valley, from the ambiguity of French mineur.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 10, 468
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2466
11. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org