Minority
[maɪ'nɒrɪtɪ;mɪ-] or [maɪ'nɔrəti]
Definition
(noun.) 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'.
(noun.) a group of people who differ racially or politically from a larger group of which it is a part.
(noun.) any age prior to the legal age.
Inputed by Andre--From WordNet
Definition
(a. & n.) The state of being a minor, or under age.
(a. & n.) State of being less or small.
(a. & n.) The smaller number; -- opposed to majority; as, the minority must be ruled by the majority.
Typist: Loretta
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Nonage, pupilage.[2]. Smaller number.
Typist: Ollie
Examples
- So we who are democrats need not believe that the people are necessarily right in their choice: some of us are always in the minority, and not a little proud of the distinction. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Brahminism had long since ousted Buddhism from India, but the converts to Islam were still but a small ruling minority in the land. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- He set out to make the campaign a battle between the Progressives and the Democrats--the old discredited Republicans fell back into a rather dead conservative minority. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The hard-headed man looked dubiously round, but finding himself in a minority, assumed a compassionate air and said no more. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Their parents had been able to support them during their minority, and to give them good educations, but not to maintain them afterwards. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Knowledge flared up, and as it flared it ceased to be the privilege of a favoured minority. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The contest was really between Mr. Breckinridge and Mr. Lincoln; between minority rule and rule by the majority. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- The protesting minority were forgotten in the throng which abjured and came; and the audience was almost as brilliant as the show. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- The well-known Minority Report of the Poor Law Commission bears the Webb signature most conspicuously. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The Minority Report of the English Poor Law Commission has striking merits and defects, but for our purposes it inheres too deeply in British conditions. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The _Miocene_ (with living species still in a minority) was the great age of mountain building, and the general temperature was falling. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- So far they have swayed only a minority of exceptional people. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The two party system chokes off the cry of a minority--perhaps the best way there is of precipitating an explosion. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- But you're in a pitiful little minority: you've got no centre, no competition, no audience. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- The waste, and not the disincumbrance of the estate, was the common effect of a long minority. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- In reality we are witnessing a change of conscience, initiated by cranks and fanatics, sustained for a long time by minorities, which has at last infected the mass of the people. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- For every country is a mass of minorities which should find a voice in public affairs. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Checked by Darren