minority
UK/maɪˈnɒɹ.ɪ.ti//maɪˈnoɹ.ɪ.ti/
minority noun: the state or condition of being smaller, inferior, or subordinate to something or someone else; lesserness.
Noun
minority (countable and uncountable, plural minorities)
- The state or condition of being smaller, inferior, or subordinate to something or someone else; lesserness.
- The state of being a minor; youth, the period of a person's life prior to reaching adulthood.
- And lest any man should think her intent was to unnestle ill neighbours, and not to aid good neighbours, or that she was readier to restore what was invaded by others than to render what was in her own hands; see if the time provided not a new occasion afterwards, when through their own division...a. 1603, Francis Bacon, Discourse in the Praise of Queen Elizabeth
- She also played a key role as dowager-regent during the minority of her son.2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, published 2012, page 117
- Any subgroup that does not form a numerical majority.
- Most people agreed, but a sizable minority were upset by the decision.
- Chuhsiung was in the heart of Yi country. The Yi made up the largest minority in Yunnan, with over three million members as of 1990. And their biggest concentration was in the mountains around Chuhsiung.2015, Bill Porter, “The Yi [彝族]”, in South of the Clouds: Travels in Southwest China, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 185
- Antonyms:
- majority
- A member of an ethnic minority.
- The company claims it has hired several minorities since the complaint was lodged.
- A group of people seen as distinct who are subordinated and discriminated against in a society.
- 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 members1951 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
- A Muslim.
Adjective
minority (comparative more minority, superlative most minority)
- Of or relating to a minority.
- They hold a minority interest in the company.
- Empowered by or representing a minority (usually a plurality) of votes cast, legislative seats, etc., rather than an outright majority thereof.
- minority government
minority meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
minority in Hindi
- period or condition of a person prior to reaching adulthood
- अवयस्कता avayaskatā, नाबालिग़पन nābāliġpan
- member of an ethnic minority
- अल्पसंख्यक alpasaṅkhyak
minority in Tamil
- இளவன்மை, சிறு பான்மை, சிறுபான்மையர், சிறுபான்மையோர், வயதடையாப் பருவம்
minority in Marathi
- अल्पसंख्याक, अल्पसंख्यांक, अल्पसंख्याकवर्ग
minority in Urdu
- minority
- اقلیت aqalliyat
More languagesFewer languages
- minority in Bengali
- নাবালকতা nabalkota, নাবালকত্ব nabalokotto
- minority in Telugu
- మైనారిటీ
- minority in Malayalam
- ന്യൂനപക്ഷം
- minority in Kannada
- ಕೊರೆಯೆಣಿಕೆ, ಕೊರೆ ಹರೆಯ, ಮೈನಾರಿಟಿ, ಅವಯಸ್ಕತೆ
- minority in Punjabi
- ਘੱਟ ਗਿਣਤੀ, ਘੱਟਗਿਣਤੀ
- minority in Gujarati
- લઘુમતી
- minority in Odia
- ସଂଖ୍ଯ଼ାଲଘୁ, ସଂଖ୍ଯ଼ାଲଘୁତା
- minority in Nepali
- अल्पसङ्ख्यक, अल्पसङ्ख्यकता, अल्पसंख्याक
- minority in Arabic
- أَقَلِّيَّة ʔaqalliyya
- minority in Persian
- اقلیت aqalleyat
- minority in Thai
- คนกลุ่มน้อย kon-glùm-nɔ́ɔi
- minority in Vietnamese
- thiểu số, số ít, người dân tộc thiểu số
- minority in Myanmar
- အနည်းစု a.nany:cu., လူနည်းစု lunany:cu.
Examples of minority in a sentence
- Hispanos are quickly becoming the largest minority in the United States.
- Latinos have quickly become the largest ethnic minority in the United States.
- Some religious and other minorities were martyred until extinction.
Synonyms of minority
Antonyms
Forms of minority
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | minorities |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more minority |
| superlative | most minority |
Origin of minority
From Late Middle English minoritie, from Middle French minorité, and its source Late Latin minōritās, from Latin minor. Morphologically minor + -ity.
Words formed from minority
- antiminority
- ethnic minority
- gender minority
- invisible minority
- majority-minority
- minoritarian
- minoritary
- minoritize
- minority cabinet
- minority council
- minority dominance
- minority domination
- minority government
- minority group
- minorityhood
- minority language
- minority leader
- minority report
- minority rule
- model minority
- nonminority
- sexual minority
- subminority
- superminority
- visible minority
- vocal minority
Phrases with minority
Words that rhyme with minority
Questions about minority
- What does minority mean?
- Minority means the state or condition of being smaller, inferior, or subordinate to something or someone else; lesserness.
- What is minority in Hindi?
- Minority in Hindi is अवयस्कता (avayaskatā), नाबालिग़पन (nābāliġpan), अल्पसंख्यक (alpasaṅkhyak). See Minority meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is minority?
- Minority can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce minority?
- Minority is pronounced /maɪˈnɒɹ.ɪ.ti/ (UK).
- What is the plural of minority?
- The plural of minority is minorities.
Words near minority in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: minority (page history and authors); minority (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); minority (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); اقلیت (Urdu) (page history and authors); minority (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); minority (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); minority (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); minority (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); minority (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); minority (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); minority (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-minority.ogg.
Cite this entry: “minority.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/minority. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.