- Minor scale
- 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}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Inferior in bulk, degree, importance, etc.; less; smaller;
of little account; as, minor divisions of a body.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Mus.) Less by a semitone in interval or difference of pitch; as, a minor third. [1913 Webster]
{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] [1913 Webster] See {Major}.
{Minor term of a syllogism} (Logic), the subject of the conclusion. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
