mi·nor (mī'nər)
adj.

1. Lesser or smaller in amount, extent, or size.
2. Lesser in importance, rank, or stature: a minor politician.
3. Lesser in seriousness or danger: a minor injury.
4. Law. Being under legal age; not yet a legal adult.
5. Chiefly British. Relating to or being the younger or junior of two pupils with the same surname.
6. Of or relating to a secondary area of academic specialization.
7. Logic. Dealing with a more restricted category.
8. Music.
   1. Relating to or being a minor scale.
   2. Less in distance by a half step than the corresponding major interval.
   3. Based on a minor scale: a minor key.

n.

1. One that is lesser in comparison with others of the same class.
2. Law. One who has not reached full legal age.
3. 1. A secondary area of specialized academic study, requiring fewer courses or credits than a major.
   2. One studying in a secondary area of specialization: She is a physics minor.
4. Logic.
   1. A minor premise.
   2. A minor term.
5. Music. A minor key, scale, or interval.
6. minors Sports. The minor leagues of a sport, especially baseball.

intr.v., -nored, -nor·ing, -nors.
To pursue academic studies in a minor field: minored in music.

[Middle English, from Latin.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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