1. smaller group as opposed to the majority; part of a population differing in some characteristic (race, sex, etc.); state of being under legal age. minority\mi*nor"i*ty\ , n.; pl. minorities (#). [cf. f. minorité. see:
minor, a. & n.].
2. the state of being a minor, or under age.
3. state of being less or small. [obs.] t. browne.
4. the smaller number; -- opposed to majority; as, the minority must be ruled by the majority.minority n.
5. a group of people who differ racially or politically from a larger group of which it is a part.
6. being or relating to the smaller in number of two parts; "when the vote was taken they were in the minority"; "he held a minority position" [ant: majority].
7. any age prior to the legal age [syn: nonage] [ant: majority].
8. The state of being a minor, or under age.
9. State of being less or small.
10. The smaller number; opposed to majority; as, the minority must be ruled by the majority. being or relating to the smaller in number of two parts; "when the vote was taken they were in the minority"; "he held a minority position" a group of people who differ racially or politically from a larger group of which it is a part any age prior to the legal age.
11. 1. If you talk about a minority of people or things in a larger group, you are referring to a number of them that forms less than half of the larger group, usually much less than half. Local authority nursery provision covers only a tiny minority of working mothers minority shareholders. ¡Ù majority If people are in a minority or in the minority, they belong to a group of people or things that form less than half of a larger group. Even in the 1960s, politically active students and academics were in a minority In the past conservatives have been in the minority.
12. A minority is a group of people of the same race, culture, or religion who live in a place where most of the people around them are of a different race, culture, or religion. the region's ethnic minorities.