minor

/ˈmaɪnər/

/ˈmaɪnə/

Other forms: minors

Something that's minor is considered of low importance — a minor injury is not very serious, and a college student's minor subject is a secondary field of study. Likewise, the star constellation Ursa Major is a larger grouping than Ursa Minor.

The word minor has retained its spelling from the Latin. There, minor means something "lesser," and is related to the Latin word minuere, which means "to diminish." It is usually used as an adjective, but as a noun it gained the meaning "underage" in the 16th Century, and is now used to refer to children and teens under the age of legal responsibility. It is also used in musical terms to refer to a key that has a flatted third in its scale.

Definitions of minor

1. adjective

   inferior in number or size or amount
   “a minor share of the profits”

   “Ursa Minor”

   antonyms:

   major

   greater in number or size or amount

   better

   more than half
2. adjective

   lesser in scope or effect
   “had minor differences”

   “a minor disturbance”

   antonyms:

   major

   greater in scope or effect
3. adjective

   of lesser seriousness or danger
   “suffered only minor injuries”

   “some minor flooding”

   “a minor tropical disturbance”

   antonyms:

   major

   of greater seriousness or danger
4. adjective

   of lesser importance or stature or rank
   “a minor poet”

   “had a minor part in the play”

   “a minor official”

   “many of these hardy adventurers were minor noblemen”

   “minor back roads”

   synonyms:

   insignificant, peanut

   of little importance or influence or power; of minor status

   secondary

   not of major importance

   antonyms:

   major

   of greater importance or stature or rank

   leading, prima, star, starring, stellar

   indicating the most important performer or role
5. adjective

   limited in size or scope
   synonyms: modest, pocket-size, pocket-sized, small, small-scale

   limited

   small in range or scope
6. adjective

   of your secondary field of academic concentration or specialization
   antonyms:

   major

   of the field of academic study in which one concentrates or specializes
7. adjective

   warranting only temporal punishment
   synonyms: venial

   pardonable

   admitting of being pardoned
8. adjective

   of a scale or mode
   “the minor keys”

   “in B flat minor”

   antonyms:

   major

   of a scale or mode
9. adjective

   not of legal age
   “minor children”

   synonyms: nonaged, underage

   antonyms:

   major

   of full legal age
10. adjective

    of the younger of two boys with the same family name
    “Jones minor”

    synonyms:

    junior

    younger; lower in rank; shorter in length of tenure or service
11. noun

    a young person of either sex
    synonyms: child, fry, kid, nestling, nipper, shaver, small fry, tiddler, tike, tyke, youngster

    types:

    bairn

    a child: son or daughter

    buster

    a robust child

    changeling

    a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy

    child prodigy, infant prodigy, wonder child, wunderkind

    a prodigy whose talents are recognized at an early age

    foster child, foster-child, fosterling

    a child who is raised by foster parents

    imp, monkey, rapscallion, rascal, scalawag, scallywag, scamp

    one who is playfully mischievous

    kiddy

    a young child

    orphan

    a child who has lost both parents

    peanut

    a young child who is small for his age

    poster child

    a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters to raise money for charitable purposes

    kindergartener, kindergartner, preschooler

    a child who attends a preschool or kindergarten

    silly

    a word used for misbehaving children

    sprog

    a child

    bambino, toddler, tot, yearling

    a young child

    urchin

    a poor and often mischievous city child

    street child, waif

    a homeless child especially one forsaken or orphaned

    foster daughter, foster-daughter

    someone who is raised as a daughter although not related by birth

    foster son, foster-son

    someone who is raised as a son although not related by birth

    poster boy

    a male poster child

    poster girl

    a female poster child

    ragamuffin, tatterdemalion

    a dirty shabbily clothed urchin

    guttersnipe, street urchin

    a child who spends most of his time in the streets, especially in slum areas

    brat, holy terror, little terror, terror

    a very troublesome child

    type of:

    juvenile, juvenile person

    a young person, not fully developed