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minority. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
minority, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Etymology
From Middle French minorité, and its source Late Latin minōritās, from Latin minor.
Morphologically minor + -ity
Pronunciation
Noun
minority (countable and uncountable, plural minorities)
- The state of being a minor; youth, the period of a person's life prior to reaching adulthood.
2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, published 2012, page 117:She also played a key role as dowager-regent during the minority of her son.
- Synonym: childhood
- Antonym: adulthood
- Any subgroup that does not form a numerical majority.
Most people agreed, but a sizable minority were upset by the decision.
- 2017 August 25, "Arrest threat as Yingluck Shinawatra misses verdict", in aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera
- The case is the latest chapter in a decade-long struggle by the nation's elite minority to crush the powerful political machine founded by Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in another coup in 2006.
- Antonym: majority
- (US) A member of an ethnic minority.
The company claims it has hired several minorities since the complaint was lodged.
- (sociology) A group of people seen as distinct who are subordinated and discriminated against in a society.
1951 October, Helen Mayer Hacker, “Women as Minority Group”, in Howard W. Odum, Katherine Jocher, editors, Social Forces, volume 30, number 1, Williams & Wilkins, →DOI, page 63:But we have seen that one important difference between women and other minorities is that women's attitudes and self-conceptions are conditioned more largely by interaction with both minority and dominant group members
- (India, euphemistic) A Muslim.
Derived terms
Translations
member of an ethnic minority
period or condition of a person prior to reaching adulthood
Translations to be checked
Adjective
minority (comparative more minority, superlative most minority)
- (relational, attributive) Of or relating to a minority.
They hold a minority interest in the company.
- (attributive, politics, of a party, government, etc.) Empowered by or representing a minority (usually a plurality) of votes cast, legislative seats, etc., rather than an outright majority thereof.
- minority government
Translations
of or relating to a minority
See also
Further reading