Minor has 16 different meanings across 4 categories:
Noun · Verb · Adjective · Proper Noun
A person who is below the age of majority, consent, criminal responsibility or other adult responsibilities and accountabilities.
"The judge ruled that the suspect could not be tried as an adult because he was still a minor at the time of the offense."
In plain English: A minor is a person who has not yet reached the legal age of adulthood.
"The minor played the violin during the concert."
Usage: Use "minor" as a noun to refer specifically to a child or young person who has not yet reached the legal age of adulthood. Do not use it to describe small objects or insignificant issues, which require different descriptors like "small item" or "trivial matter."
Used in a phrasal verb: minor in.
"She plans to major in history but will minor in art during her undergraduate studies."
In plain English: To minor means to play a musical instrument at a lower level than your main focus, usually as a secondary subject in school.
"The car accident was minor, so no one was seriously injured."
Usage: Do not use "minor" as a standalone verb to mean something is small or insignificant; instead, use it only within the phrasal verb "to minor in," which means to specialize in a specific subject at a college or university. For example, say "I minor in history" rather than trying to describe a trivial event by saying "The mistake was minor."
of lesser importance or stature or rank
"a minor poet"
"had a minor part in the play"
"a minor official"
"many of these hardy adventurers were minor noblemen"
"minor back roads"
(of a scale or mode) having half steps between the second and third degrees, and (usually) the fifth and sixth degrees, and the seventh and eighth degrees
"the minor keys"
"in B flat minor"
of lesser seriousness or danger
"suffered only minor injuries"
"some minor flooding"
"a minor tropical disturbance"
of your secondary field of academic concentration or specialization
"He majored in computer science but took his minor in psychology to better understand user behavior."
relatively moderate, limited, or small
"a small business"
"a newspaper with a modest circulation"
"small-scale plans"
"a pocket-size country"
Lesser in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance; comparatively unimportant.
"The minor scratches on his car were barely noticeable compared to the dent he caused earlier that day."
In plain English: Minor means something that is not very important or serious compared to other things.
"The car had minor damage after the small collision."
Usage: Use minor to describe something that is less significant, serious, or substantial than another thing, such as a minor injury or a minor detail. Do not use it to mean "young" when referring to age in formal contexts where "juvenile" or specific legal terms are required.
A surname.
"During the family reunion, Aunt Minor told everyone about her famous cousin who lived in Chicago."
The word minor comes from the Latin minor, which originally meant "lesser" or "young." It entered English directly from Latin as well as through Norman French and Middle French forms of the same root.