minority

Etymology

From Middle French minorité, and its source Late Latin minōritās, from Latin minor. Morphologically minor + -ity

noun

1. The state of being a minor; youth, the period of a person's life prior to reaching adulthood.
   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.
   Most people agreed, but a sizable minority were upset by the decision.
   2017 August 25, "Arrest threat as Yingluck Shinawatra misses verdict", in aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera 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.
3. (US) A member of an ethnic minority.
   The company claims it has hired several minorities since the complaint was lodged.
4. (sociology) A group of people seen as distinct who are subordinated and discriminated against in a society.
   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, →DOI, page 63
5. (India, euphemistic) A Muslim.

adj

1. (relational, attributive) Of or relating to a minority.
   They hold a minority interest in the company.
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.
   minority government