Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MI'NOR, a. [L.; the comparative degree of a word no found in that language, but existing in the Celtic dialects, W. main, Arm. moan, Ir. min, mion, the root of L. minuo, to diminish. See Mince.]

1. Less; smaller; sometimes applied to the bulk or magnitude of a single object; more generally to amount, degree or importance. We say, the minor divisions of a body, tln minor part of a body; opposed to the major part. We say minor sums, minor faults, minor considerntaons, minor details or arguments. In the latter phrases, minor is equivalent to small, petty, inconsiderable, not principal, important or weighty.
2. In music, less or lower by a lesser semitone; as, a third minor. Encyc. Asia Minor, the Lesser Asia, that part of Asia which lies between the Euxine on the north, and the Mediterranean on the south.