Minor in Different Languages
Discover 'Minor' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'minor' carries significant weight in various contexts, denoting something or someone of lesser importance, size, or age. Its cultural importance is evident in fields such as music, where a 'minor' key or scale evokes a distinct emotional response, often associated with melancholy or seriousness. Similarly, in law, a 'minor' is an individual who has not yet reached the age of majority, and is therefore subject to specific protections and limitations.
Given the term's broad applicability, one might wish to learn its translation in different languages for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you're a musician planning a global tour, a legal scholar researching international precedents, or simply a language enthusiast seeking to expand your vocabulary. Whatever your motivation, understanding the nuances of 'minor' in various tongues can enrich your cultural competence and facilitate cross-cultural communication.
Here are some translations of 'minor' to pique your interest:
Minor
Minor in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | mineur | ||
| In Afrikaans, "mineur" can also mean "miners" (plural of "miner"). | |||
| Amharic | አናሳ | ||
| The word "አናሳ" is derived from the Ge'ez word "አንስ" meaning "to be small". | |||
| Hausa | karami | ||
| The word "karami" is often used as a suffix to form diminutives of nouns denoting young persons, animals, or things. | |||
| Igbo | obere | ||
| The word ' obere ' can also be used to describe something as 'younger'. | |||
| Malagasy | tsy ampy taona | ||
| "Tsy ampy taona" literally translates to "not enough years," signifying a person who has not yet reached the age of maturity. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | zazing'ono | ||
| The Chewa word "zazing'ono" derives from the verb "kuzing'ona" meaning "to decrease" or "to get smaller in size". | |||
| Shona | diki | ||
| The word 'diki' in Shona can also carry the connotation of being worthless, petty or trivial in nature and can be applied in contexts beyond minor or unimportant events | |||
| Somali | yar | ||
| Somali 'yar' is a cognate of Proto-Cushitic ‘ḳr, meaning "be small or young". | |||
| Sesotho | nyane | ||
| The word "nyane" can also refer to a young child or to the youngest of a group of siblings. | |||
| Swahili | mdogo | ||
| Mdogo, meaning 'minor' in Swahili, is also a term used to refer to a younger man or boy. | |||
| Xhosa | encinci | ||
| The word "encinci" may also refer to a child or someone who is young and inexperienced | |||
| Yoruba | kekere | ||
| The Yoruba word "kekere" can also refer to something that is "little" or "insignificant". | |||
| Zulu | okuncane | ||
| The word "okuncane" can also refer to a young boy or a small or insignificant thing. | |||
| Bambara | dɔgɔmani | ||
| Ewe | si le sue | ||
| Kinyarwanda | muto | ||
| Lingala | moke | ||
| Luganda | -tono | ||
| Sepedi | nnyane | ||
| Twi (Akan) | kumaa | ||
Minor in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | تحت السن القانوني | ||
| The word "minor" comes from the Latin word "minoris," meaning "lesser" or "younger." | |||
| Hebrew | קַטִין | ||
| The word "קַטִין" can also refer to a young animal or child, or to something that is small or insignificant. | |||
| Pashto | کوچنی | ||
| The Pashto term "کوچنی" is also used as a diminutive suffix, indicating "small" or "young". | |||
| Arabic | تحت السن القانوني | ||
| The word "minor" comes from the Latin word "minoris," meaning "lesser" or "younger." | |||
Minor in Western European Languages
| Albanian | minore | ||
| "Minore" is an Italian word derived from Latin, which means "lesser" or "younger". | |||
| Basque | adingabea | ||
| "Adingabea", a Basque word meaning "minor", also refers to a type of small, round cheese in the Basque region. | |||
| Catalan | menor | ||
| The Catalan word "menor" also means "smaller" in English. | |||
| Croatian | maloljetnik | ||
| "Maloljetnik" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*mel-/*mol-", meaning "small" or "soft", and the Slavic suffix "-jet", indicating a state or condition. | |||
| Danish | mindre | ||
| The word "mindre" also means "lesser" or "smaller" in Danish. | |||
| Dutch | minor | ||
| In Dutch, “minor” also means “monk” or “nun”. | |||
| English | minor | ||
| In Latin, 'minor' means 'lesser' or 'younger', and is the comparative form of 'parvus' ('small'). | |||
| French | mineur | ||
| The French word "mineur" can also refer to a miner or a mine. | |||
| Frisian | minor | ||
| In Frisian, "minor" can also refer to a male sheep that has not yet mated. | |||
| Galician | menor | ||
| In Galician, "menor" can also mean "smaller" or "younger", derived from the Latin "minor". | |||
| German | geringer | ||
| The word "geringer" comes from Old High German "geringi" and is related to the verb "gehren" (to desire), thus originally meaning "worth less than desired". | |||
| Icelandic | minniháttar | ||
| The Icelandic word "minniháttar" derives from the Old Norse verb "minna", meaning "to remember", alluding to the fact that minor offenses are less likely to be remembered. | |||
| Irish | mionaoiseach | ||
| Italian | minore | ||
| In Italian, "minore" can refer to a legal age of majority or capacity, depending on the context. | |||
| Luxembourgish | kleng | ||
| It shares the same base with its German counterpart "klein" and the English "little". | |||
| Maltese | minuri | ||
| "Minuri" in Maltese, derived from the Italian "minore", also refers to a younger sibling in a family. | |||
| Norwegian | liten | ||
| "Liten" derives from the word "lítill" in Old Norse. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | menor | ||
| The word "menor" in Portuguese has Latin roots, meaning "smaller" or "younger", and can refer to a person under the age of 18, as well as something that is smaller in size, value, or importance. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | mion | ||
| In Gaelic, 'mion' can also refer to 'fine' or 'small' as well as 'minor'. | |||
| Spanish | menor | ||
| Menor (Spanish) is descended from the comparative of Latin “parvus” (small): | |||
| Swedish | mindre | ||
| In legal and historical contexts, "mindre" can also mean "lesser" as in "mindre brott" (lesser crime). | |||
| Welsh | mân | ||
| The word mân also means "soft" or "delicate" in Welsh. | |||
Minor in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | непаўналетні | ||
| The root of the word "непаўналетні" (minor) is "паўна" (full), so it literally means "not full" or "incomplete". | |||
| Bosnian | maloljetna | ||
| The word "maloljetna" is derived from the Slavic word "mal" (small) and the Latin word "juvenis" (young). | |||
| Bulgarian | незначителен | ||
| The word "незначителен" can also have the meaning of "immaterial" or "unimportant" in Bulgarian. | |||
| Czech | méně důležitý | ||
| The word "Méně důležitý" can also mean "less important" or "secondary". | |||
| Estonian | alaealine | ||
| The word "alaealine" in Estonian has Latin roots and is related to the words "alien" and "allergy", suggesting a sense of strangeness or otherness. | |||
| Finnish | alaikäinen | ||
| "Alaikäinen" comes from "ala-ikäinen", meaning "below age" and "underage", which further derives from "ikä" meaning "age" in Old Norse. | |||
| Hungarian | kiskorú | ||
| "Kiskorú" is a compound word consisting of "kis" (small) and "korú" (age), but it does not literally mean "small age", rather "young age". | |||
| Latvian | nepilngadīgais | ||
| The Latvian word "nepilngadīgais" literally means "not fully reached". | |||
| Lithuanian | nepilnametis | ||
| The word "nepilnametis" in Lithuanian is derived from the word "nepilnas", meaning "incomplete" or "imperfect". | |||
| Macedonian | малолетник | ||
| The word "малолетник" in Macedonian also means a young tree or a young animal. | |||
| Polish | mniejszy | ||
| Etymology of mniejszy - in comparative Slavic dialects, "mniejszy" means "younger." | |||
| Romanian | minor | ||
| "Minor" in Romanian can also refer to a monastic order or a friar. | |||
| Russian | незначительный | ||
| In Russian, "незначительный" also means "insignificant" or "irrelevant". | |||
| Serbian | малолетник | ||
| The word “малолетник” (malolétnik) in Serbian comes from the Old Church Slavonic word “младенець” (mladenets), which means “infant”, “child”, or “young person”. | |||
| Slovak | maloletý | ||
| The word "maloletý" originates from the Proto-Slavic word "*malъ", meaning "small", and the suffix "-etъ", which indicates a person or thing with a certain characteristic. | |||
| Slovenian | mladoletnik | ||
| The Slovenian word 'mladoletnik' originally referred to a person under 15, later the meaning was expanded to under 18. | |||
| Ukrainian | неповнолітній | ||
| "Неповнолітній" (minor) in Ukrainian derives from "не повний літ," where "літ" means "years" (cognate with "лета" in Russian), and "не повний" means "not full" or "incomplete." | |||
Minor in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | গৌণ | ||
| The Bengali word "গৌণ" (minor) has its roots in the Sanskrit word "गौण", which also means "secondary" or "subordinate". | |||
| Gujarati | સગીર | ||
| "સગીર" in Gujarati comes from the Arabic word "saġīr", meaning "small" or "young". | |||
| Hindi | नाबालिग | ||
| The word "नाबालिग" is derived from the Sanskrit word "नाबाल," which means "below the age of discretion" or "infancy." | |||
| Kannada | ಸಣ್ಣ | ||
| ಸಣ್ಣ can also mean "narrow", "subtle" or "delicate". | |||
| Malayalam | പ്രായപൂർത്തിയാകാത്ത | ||
| Marathi | किरकोळ | ||
| The word "किरकोळ" (minor) is derived from the Sanskrit word "कृतः" (done), meaning something that has been done or accomplished. | |||
| Nepali | नाबालिग | ||
| The word 'नाबालिग' also means 'inferior' or 'subordinate'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਨਾਬਾਲਗ | ||
| The Punjabi word "ਨਾਬਾਲਗ" can also refer to children who have not yet reached the age of maturity. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | සුළු | ||
| The word "සුළු" can also mean "little" or "small" in Sinhala. | |||
| Tamil | மைனர் | ||
| The word மைனர் (minor) comes from the Latin word 'minor', meaning 'lesser'. | |||
| Telugu | మైనర్ | ||
| "మైనర్" can also refer to a musical scale or a premise that is not as significant as others. | |||
| Urdu | معمولی | ||
| The word "معمولی" can be traced back to the Persian word "معمولی" which means "usual" or "ordinary." | |||
Minor in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 次要 | ||
| 次要 can also indicate "secondary" and "inferior". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 次要 | ||
| 次要 derives from a Chinese proverb: "次之則不次", meaning that what is second-rate is not even second-rate. | |||
| Japanese | マイナー | ||
| The word "マイナー" (minor) in Japanese can also refer to a minor road or a minor in music, among other meanings. | |||
| Korean | 미성년자 | ||
| The Korean word for "minor", 미성년자, literally translates to "not yet an adult". | |||
| Mongolian | насанд хүрээгүй | ||
| The word | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | အသေးစား | ||
Minor in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | minor | ||
| The term "minor" originates from the Latin word "minor," meaning "smaller or lesser," and also shares a root with the word "minority," denoting a group with less power or representation. | |||
| Javanese | bocah cilik | ||
| The term "bocah cilik" literally translates to "small child" in Javanese and refers to the status of a minor in Indonesian law. | |||
| Khmer | អនីតិជន | ||
| Lao | ເປັນການຄ້າຫນ້ອຍ | ||
| Malay | bawah umur | ||
| The word "bawah umur" in Malay, when used in a legal context, refers to individuals below the age of 18, but in a more general context, it can also mean "younger" or "subordinate". | |||
| Thai | ผู้เยาว์ | ||
| The term "ผู้เยาว์" (minor) in Thai can also refer to a person under the age of 20, or a person who lacks experience or maturity. | |||
| Vietnamese | diễn viên phụ | ||
| “Diễn viên phụ” literally translates to “supporting actor” in English. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | menor de edad | ||
Minor in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | kiçik | ||
| The word "kiçik" in Azerbaijani not only means "minor," but also has the alternate meanings of "small" and "younger." | |||
| Kazakh | кәмелетке толмаған | ||
| The term for 'minor' in Kazakh is a compound word consisting of two words, 'кәмелет' (maturity) and 'толмаған' (unfilled). | |||
| Kyrgyz | жашы жете элек | ||
| The term is used for children, but also for people who are immature or have not finished their studies. | |||
| Tajik | ноболиғ | ||
| The word "ноболиғ" (minor) in Tajik originally meant "incomplete" or "imperfect". | |||
| Turkmen | kämillik ýaşyna ýetmedik | ||
| Uzbek | voyaga etmagan | ||
| "Voyaga etmagan" in Uzbek also means "not having the age of majority" or "who has not reached the age of majority". | |||
| Uyghur | قۇرامىغا يەتمىگەن | ||
Minor in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻōpio | ||
| ʻŌpio was also used to describe younger warriors in training. | |||
| Maori | taiohi | ||
| Taiohi means "child" or "teenager", and can be used to address a group of young people. | |||
| Samoan | laiti | ||
| The word "laiti" also means "youngest" or "last born" in Samoan. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | menor de edad | ||
| The word "menor de edad" in Tagalog (Filipino) can also refer to a young person who is under the age of 18 but has reached puberty. | |||
Minor in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | sullka | ||
| Guarani | imitãvéva | ||
Minor in International Languages
| Esperanto | minora | ||
| The Esperanto word "minora" also means "lesser" or "smaller". | |||
| Latin | minor | ||
| The Latin word 'minor' also means 'younger', 'lesser', 'inferior', or 'subordinate'. | |||
Minor in Others Languages
| Greek | ανήλικος | ||
| The word "ανήλικος" in Greek literally translates to "not of age" and refers to a person who has not yet reached the age of legal majority. | |||
| Hmong | me | ||
| The word "me" in Hmong can also mean "younger sibling" or "little one" depending on the context. | |||
| Kurdish | biçûk | ||
| The word "biçûk" in Kurdish also means "small" or "petite". | |||
| Turkish | minör | ||
| The word "minör" in Turkish is not only used to refer to "minor" or "minor scale" but also to "small, tiny, minute" or "minor, insignificant". | |||
| Xhosa | encinci | ||
| The word "encinci" may also refer to a child or someone who is young and inexperienced | |||
| Yiddish | מינערווערטיק | ||
| The Yiddish word מינערווערטיק has the additional meaning "worthless," which comes from merging "minor" and "worthless." | |||
| Zulu | okuncane | ||
| The word "okuncane" can also refer to a young boy or a small or insignificant thing. | |||
| Assamese | নাবালক | ||
| Aymara | sullka | ||
| Bhojpuri | नाबालिग | ||
| Dhivehi | ކުޑަ | ||
| Dogri | ना-बालग | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | menor de edad | ||
| Guarani | imitãvéva | ||
| Ilocano | bassit | ||
| Krio | smɔl | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ئاوێنە | ||
| Maithili | छोट | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯑꯉꯥꯡ | ||
| Mizo | tenau | ||
| Oromo | xiqqoo | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ନାବାଳକ | ||
| Quechua | pisi | ||
| Sanskrit | बाल | ||
| Tatar | балигъ булмаган | ||
| Tigrinya | ንኡስ | ||
| Tsonga | xitsongo | ||