Etymograph

English

minor

Minor comes from Middle English minor, from Latin minor ‘lesser, smaller’, from Proto-Italic *minōs ‘less’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*minōs1‘less’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminor2‘lesser’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500minor2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1447minor2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin minor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English minor
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1447, Osbern Bokenham, Legendys of Hooly Wummen: “He... to þe menours ordre went”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*minōsWiktionary, Latin minor‘less’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminorWiktionary, English minor‘lesser’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500minorWiktionary, English minor
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1447minorWiktionary, English minor. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1447, Osbern Bokenham, Legendys of Hooly Wummen: “He... to þe menours ordre went”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with minor, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘small, little’

  • mean ← menen ← mǣnan ← *mainijan ← *mainijaną
  • community ← communite ← communité ← commūnitās ← commūnis
  • common ← comun ← comun ← commūnis ← comoinis
  • met ← meten ← mætan ← *maitijan ← *maitaną
  • commission ← commissioun ← commissiō ← committō ← mittō
  • communication ← comunicacioun ← communicacion ← commūnicātiōnem ← commūnicātiō
  • mess ← mes ← mēse ← mē(n)sa ← mittō
  • meal ← mole ← māl ← *mailą
  • communist ← communiste ← commun ← comun ← commūnis
  • mutual ← mutuel ← mūtuus ← mūt(ō)
  • communicate ← commūnis ← co(m)moinis ← *kommoinis ← *ḱom-moy-ni-s
  • immune ← immun ← immūnis ← in- -is ← mūnus

130 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option, particularly

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “minor”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin minor. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *minōs / minor