[mi.nor] adj [L, smaller, inferior; akin to OHG minniro smaller, L minuere to lessen] (1526) 1: inferior in importance, size, or degree: comparatively unimportant
2: not having reached majority 3 a: having half steps between the second and third, the fifth and sixth, and sometimes the seventh and eighth degrees "~ scale" b: based on a minor scale "~ key" c: less by a semitone than the corresponding major interval "~ third" d: having a minor third above the root "~ triad"
4: not serious or involving risk to life "~ illness"
5: of or relating to an academic subject requiring fewer courses than a major
[2]minor n (1612) 1: a person who has not attained majority
2: a minor musical interval, scale, key, or mode 3 a: a minor academic subject b: a student taking a specified minor
4: a determinant or matrix obtained from a given determinant or matrix by eliminating the row and column in which a given element lies
5. pl: minor league baseball--used with the [3]minor vi (1926): to take courses in a minor subject