minor English · revision 4235

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=la minor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈmaɪ.nə/, US /ˈmaɪ.nɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|menour]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Old French menor, menour “less, smaller; underage, younger”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and directly [[bor|la|minor|t=less, lesser, smaller, junior; inferior]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which functions as the comparative of parvus “small”^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) and was formed as a masculine and feminine to [[m|la|minus]], on the mistaken assumption that minus was a neuter comparative,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*mey-|alt=*mei-|t=small]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) It is related to Latin minuere “to lessen”, Greek meíōn “less” and Gothic minniza “smaller”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[minus]], [[minute]] and [[diminish]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In ''friar minor'', a Franciscan, rendering Medieval Latin Fratres Minores “lesser brethren”, the name St Francis chose for humility: 1297 in the OED,^(OED 1989)^(COED 2004) the early 13th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and in surnames from 1212.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Lesser or smaller”, of plant species and lesser religious orders, is from about 1410,^(Barnhart 1988) or the early 15th century,^(Etymonline) and “comparatively unimportant” from the 1620s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) first in Ben Jonson according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) The minor premise of a syllogism is from about 1400.^(Etymonline) A person under legal age is from the 1610s, 1612 in Merriam-Webster,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) and the adjective “underage” from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) In music it is from the 1690s, of intervals smaller than the corresponding major ones,^(Etymonline) and of chords by 1797;^(Etymonline) their mournful or wistful effect gave figurative senses.^(Etymonline) ''Minor league'' in baseball is from 1884, figuratively by 1926.^(Etymonline) The academic minor, a secondary subject, is from 1890, and the verb ''to minor in'' by 1905.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – ''friar minor''.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1410 – lesser, smaller.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570s – underage.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – a person under age.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – unimportant.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1690s – in music.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1884 – ''minor league''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1890 – an academic minor.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Lesser in amount, size or extent.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Lesser in importance, rank or seriousness: ''a minor injury''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Under legal age.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In music, of an interval, scale or key with a minor third: ''A minor''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person under the legal age of [[adulthood]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A secondary area of academic study, or a student in it.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In music, a minor key or scale.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''minors'' The minor leagues.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To study a subject as a minor: ''minored in history''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[minus]]

+ * [[minute]]

+ * [[diminish]]

+ * [[minority]]

+ * [[minimum]]

+ * [[major]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}