minority

From Middle French minorité, and its source Late Latin minōritās, from Latin minor.

Morphologically minor +‎ -ity

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /maɪˈnɒɹ.ɪ.ti/, /mɪˈnɒɹ.ɪ.ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /maɪˈnɔɹ.ɪ.ti/, /mɪˈnɔɹ.ɪ.ti/, /maɪˈnɔɹ.ə.ti/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (NYC) IPA^(key): /maɪˈnɑɹ.ɪ.ti/, /mɪˈnɑɹ.ɪ.ti/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /mɑɪˈnɔɹ.ə.ti/
• Rhymes: -ɒɹɪti

minority (countable and uncountable, plural minorities)

1. The state of being a minor; youth, the period of a person's life prior to reaching adulthood. [from 15th c.]
   • 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

2. Any subgroup that does not form a numerical majority. [from 18th c.]

   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

3. (US) A member of an ethnic minority. [from 20th c.]

   The company claims it has hired several minorities since the complaint was lodged.

4. (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

5. (India, euphemistic) A Muslim.

• minor

minority (comparative more minority, superlative most minority)

1. (relational, attributive) Of or relating to a minority.

   They hold a minority interest in the company.

2. (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

• Thesaurus:quantifier

• “minority”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “minority”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.