Definition of "minority"

minority

/maɪˈnɒɹ.ɪ.ti/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural minorities
1. The state of being a minor; youth, the period of a person's life prior to reaching adulthood.
  Quotations
  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
2. Any subgroup that does not form a numerical majority.
  Quotations
  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 aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera
3. (US) A member of an ethnic minority.
4. (sociology) A group of people seen as distinct who are subordinated and discriminated against in a society.
  Quotations
  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, page 63
5. (India, euphemistic) A Muslim.
adjective
comparative more minority, superlative most minority
1. (relational, attributive) Of or relating to a minority.
2. (attributive, politics, of a party, government, etc.) Empowered by or representing a minority (usually a plurality) of votes cast, legislative seats, etc., rather than an outright majority thereof.

Definition of "minority"

minority

noun

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

adjective