minor

Forms

minor m or n (feminine singular minoră, masculine plural minori, feminine/neuter plural minore)^[1]

Etymology

It is a neologism with several sources: borrowed from French mineur and also from Latin minor (“smaller, lesser”).^[2][3][4] The DLR and MDA2 take it from French and compare Latin; the DN takes it from Latin and compares French.^[5][6][7] Scriban gives only Latin, Wiktionary French from Latin.^[8][1]

The Latin word serves as the comparative of parvus (“small”).^[8][9] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Italic *minōs (“less”) and Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small”).^[1] French borrowed it about 1340, with the legal sense “under age”; its inherited counterpart is moindre.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DLR give Pontbriant's Romanian–French dictionary of 1862 as the first record, with the sense “under age”.^[6][5] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 glosses it “smaller, younger in age” and cites Asia minoră “Asia Minor”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense, a person who has not come of age, was the first and is still the main one;^[12][2] MDA2 gives the old synonym minorean.^[6][5] The sense “unimportant, secondary” followed, as in arte minore “minor arts”.^[12][2] Music and logic took the word as a term: Scriban records the minor tone and scale and the Catholic minor orders, and modern dictionaries the minor term and premise of a syllogism.^[8][2]

Timeline

• 1862 – the first record, in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[6][5]
• 1870 – minorŭ “smaller, younger” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[11]
• 1929 – the musical sense in Șăineanu's dictionary.^[13]
• 1939 – the minor scale and the Catholic minor orders in Scriban.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not yet of age; under the age of majority (often as a noun: a minor).^[2][6]
2. Of little importance, secondary; by extension, dull, weak.^[2][7]
3. (music) In mod minor and gamă minoră: the minor mode and scale, built on a minor third.^[2][6]
4. (logic) In termen minor and premisă minoră: the minor term of a syllogism and the premise that contains it.^[2][7]

Related words

• major
• minus
• minim
• mărunt
• Latin minor

Usage notes

MDA2 records an old variant minore.^[6] The opposite is major.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 657
3. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
4. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
5. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. minor
6. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 18
7. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
8. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 811
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 99
12. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 84
13. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 400