Minority Meaning
/maɪˈnɒɹ.ɪ.ti/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe state or condition of being smaller, inferior, or subordinate to something or someone else; lesserness.
nounThe state of being a minor; youth, the period of a person's life prior to reaching adulthood.
Sentence Examples
The chairman should take the minority opinion into account.
We have to stand up for minority rights.
Only a small minority of students chose to study ancient history.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
Only a small ____ of the entire population supported the new policy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Only a small ____ of the people surveyed said that they preferred the new version of the product over the original classic one.
Word Origin & History
From Late Middle English minoritie, from Middle French minorité, and its source Late Latin minōritās, from Latin minor. Morphologically minor + -ity.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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, without the intermise of strangers, her forces were again sought and required; she forsook them not, prevailed so far as to be possessed of the castle of Edinburgh, the principal strength of that kingdom, with peace, incontinently, without cunctations or cavillations, the preambles of a wavering faith, she rendered with all honour and security; and his person to safe and faithful hands; and so ever after during his minority continued his principal guardian and protector."
— 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:
"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:
"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."
— 2017 August 25, “Arrest threat as Yingluck Shinawatra misses verdict”, in Al Jazeera:
"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"
— 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:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Only a small ____ of the entire population supported the new policy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Only a small ____ of the people surveyed said that they preferred the new version of the product over the original classic one.