The Collaborative International Dictionary
minor \mi"nor\ (m[imac]"n[~e]r), a. [L., a comparative with no positive; akin to AS. min small, G. minder less, OHG. minniro, a., min, adv., Icel. minni, a., minnr, adv., Goth. minniza, a., mins, adv., Ir. & Gael. min small, tender, L. minuere to lessen, Gr. miny`qein, Skr. mi to damage. Cf. Minish, Minister, Minus, Minute.]
Inferior in bulk, degree, importance, etc.; less; smaller; of little account; as, minor divisions of a body.
-
(Mus.) Less by a semitone in interval or difference of pitch; as, a minor third.
Asia Minor (Geog.), the Lesser Asia; that part of Asia which lies between the Euxine, or Black Sea, on the north, and the Mediterranean on the south.
Minor mode (Mus.), that mode, or scale, in which the third and sixth are minor, -- much used for mournful and solemn subjects.
Minor orders (Eccl.), the rank of persons employed in ecclesiastical offices who are not in holy orders, as doorkeepers, acolytes, etc.
Minor scale (Mus.) The form of the minor scale is various. The strictly correct form has the third and sixth minor, with a semitone between the seventh and eighth, which involves an augmented second interval, or three semitones, between the sixth and seventh, as, 6/F, 7/G[sharp], 8/A. But, for melodic purposes, both the sixth and the seventh are sometimes made major in the ascending, and minor in the descending, scale, thus: [1913 Webster] See Major.
Minor term of a syllogism (Logic), the subject of the conclusion.
WordNet
n. a key based on the minor scale [syn: minor key]
Usage examples of "minor mode".
And though he snapped his mouth shut with an exaggerated click of his teeth, he began to hum very quietly to himself, a tune in the minor mode.
It began in a minor mode that made the gold-hued, star-gemmed night throb like a dirge.