minority
/maɪˈnɔːɹəti/migh-NAW-ruh-tee
/maɪˈnɔɹəti/migh-NAW-ruh-tee
Meaningthe state of being minor
Common meaning: the smaller part of a group
Other meanings: a small group within a society
- minsmaller, less; to lessenLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1147 · scan
- oragent ending: the doer, or the device that does it
- itynoun ending: being so, the quality of
Journey through time
- Proto-Indo-European*mi-‘diminish’source
- Latinminor, minimus; minuō‘smaller, less’
- Englishminor‘smaller or less important’
- Englishformed in English from minorminority‘the smaller part of a group’ · today
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: Formed in English from minor + -ity.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), MINOR, p.369 · scan
Roots
- minor, minimus; minuō Latin “smaller, less; to lessen”
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