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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
Related 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