Wordwyrt

minor

/ˈmaɪnə/MIGH-nur
/ˈmaɪnɚ/MIGH-nur

Meaningsmaller

Common meaning: smaller or less important

Other meanings: a person under age

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√MI‘diminish’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 270, p. 739 · scan
  2. Latinminor, minimus; minuō‘smaller, less’
  3. Englishminor‘smaller or less important’ · today

min also in: minusminuteminimumdiminish

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin minor ‘smaller, less; to lessen’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry minor, p. 1147 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

diminishminimumminusminute

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