minus

Forms

minus (neuter of the comparative minor, genitive minōris; comparative adverb)^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of the comparative minor “smaller, less”, used as a noun and as an adverb.^[1][2] De Vaan explains ⟨minor⟩ from the old comparative Proto-Indo-European *meih₁-iōs- (“less”), remodelled in Italic after the nasal present ⟨*minu-⟩ “to lessen” (see minuō), giving Proto-Italic *minōs (“less”).^[3]

Compare Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (mins, “less”), Ancient Greek μείων (meíōn, “smaller”) and Old Church Slavonic мьнии (mĭnii, “smaller, younger”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Twelve Tables;^[4] Plautus has quantō ego plūs properō, prōcēdit minus, “the more I hurry, the less I get on”.^[1]

Semantic evolution

As a noun minus is “a smaller amount, less”, and before numbers it means “less than” without quam.^[1] As an adverb it means “less, to a smaller degree”, with an ablative of difference “fewer by” (ūnō minus teste “with one witness fewer”).^[1] Nōn minus or haud minus means “no less, just as much”, nihilōminus “nevertheless”, and quōminus introduces clauses of hindering.^[1][5]

It is also a softened negative, “not, not at all”.^[6] In Medieval Latin minus venīre meant “to be missing” and, impersonally, “to die”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.^[4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: prōcēdit minus.^[1][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence: haec rēs nōn minus mē male habet quam tē, “this troubles me no less than you”.^[1][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: ūnō minus teste.^[1][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A smaller amount, less.^[1][2]
2. (before numbers, without quam) Less than.^[1]

Adverb

1. Less, to a smaller degree.^[1][2]
2. (with ablative) Fewer, less (by so many).^[1]
3. nōn minus, haud minus, no less, just as much.^[1]
4. Not, not at all, by no means.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin) minus venīre, to be missing; to die.^[7]

Word family

• nihilōminus
• quōminus
• minusculus

Related words

• minor
• minuō
• minimus
• parvus
• plūs

Usage notes

The OLD records a rare adjective minus, -a, -um of uncertain origin, which Varro uses of sheep, apparently meaning “smooth, bald”.^[1][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften