minus
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English mynus, from Latin minus, neuter form of minor, comparative form of parvus (“small, little”), from the Proto-Indo-European root *mey- (“few, small”).
Pronunciation edit
Preposition edit
minus
- (mathematics) Made less or reduced by (followed by an expression of number or quantity). [from 15th c.]
- Antonym: plus
- Seven minus two is five.
- (informal) Without; deprived of. [from 19th c.]
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
mathematics: less
|
Noun edit
minus (plural minuses or minusses)[1]
- (mathematics) The minus sign (−). [from 16th c.]
- 1835 January, the Sub-Editor [i.e., Edward Howard], “The Life of a Sub-Editor”, in The Metropolitan Magazine, volume XII, number XLV, London: Saunders and Otley, […], page 427:
- On the third day a Master Barnard brings me up a slate full of plusses, minusses, x, y, z’s, and other letters of the alphabet, in a most amiable algebraical confusion.
- (mathematics) A negative quantity. [from 18th c.]
- A downside or disadvantage. [from 20th c.]
- 1989, A[udrey] L[ilian] Barker, The Woman Who Talked to Herself, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 111:
- He valued Roderick’s friendship with the highest value he put on anything nowadays. Over the years they had assessed each other’s plusses and minusses and settled for the difference.
- 2015, Peter Wyeth, “[Commentaries] Reason”, in The Matter of Vision: Affective Neurobiology & Cinema, New Barnet, Herts.: John Libbey Publishing Ltd; Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 113:
- As with LCR tout court the question is less to do with the plusses and minusses of the individual ideologies in themselves than in their relationship with their opposite numbers, in this case of Reason with Emotion.
Synonyms edit
- (defect or deficiency): defect, deficiency, drawback, flaw, shortcoming
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "minus sign"): plus, plus sign
- (antonym(s) of "negative quantity"): positive
- (antonym(s) of "defect or deficiency"): advantage, bonus, boon, gain, plus
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
minus sign — see minus sign
mathematics: negative quantity
|
downside or disadvantage
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Adjective edit
minus (not comparable)
- Being a negative quantity; pertaining to a deficit or reduction. [from 18th c.]
- a minus number
- That is below zero by (a specified amount) on a scale. [from 19th c.]
- minus seven degrees
- (colloquial, obsolete) Worse off than before; out of pocket. [19th c.]
- 1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 301:
- The races being finished, we left Epsom for London, Mordaunt's natural vile temper not being at all improved by being three hundred pounds minus by the week's speculation […] .
- 1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 301:
- (postpositive) Ranking just below (a designated rating). [from 19th c.]
- He got a grade of B minus for his essay.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
negative
|
on the negative part of a scale
|
ranking just below a designated rating
Verb edit
minus (third-person singular simple present minuses or minusses, present participle minusing or minussing, simple past and past participle minused or minussed)
- (transitive, colloquial) To subtract. [from 20th c.]
- 1981 March, Kevin F[rancis] Collis, Cognitive Development, Mathematics Learning, Information Processing and a Refocusing, Madison, Wis.: Wisconsin Research and Development Center for Individualized Schooling, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, page 9:
- For example, in solving the following equation, x + 4 = 9, the child using the negating mechanism will reason, "minussing 4" undoes "plussing 4" therefore, if x + 4 = 9 then x = 5 and will not see any point in using any intermediate steps.
- 1990, William T. Scott, “Systems and structures”, in The Possibility of Communication (Approaches to Semiotics; 87), Berlin, New York, N.Y.: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 38:
- (The terms positive and negative feedback are now part of everyday language where the meanings are reversed: in cybernetic systems, positive feedback is undesirable for it indicates that the discrepancy is “plussing,” rather than “minussing” to zero.)
- 2011, Laura Christine Bofferding, Expanding the Numerical Central Conceptual Structure:
- Four plus one is 5 and you go down because it's minusing, […]
- 2012, Jennifer S. Thom, “Opening Mathematical Spaces of Their Own”, in Re-Rooting the Learning Space: Minding Where Children’s Mathematics Grow (New Directions in Mathematics and Science Education; 21), Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, →ISBN, page 299:
- “But you also minussed! … Sam… Sam also minussed seventy-two but he also… one hundred forty-four minus seventy-two equals seventy-two. He also minussed the seventy-two.”
See also edit
References edit
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “minus”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “minus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams edit
Crimean Tatar edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
minus
Declension edit
Declension of minus
nominative | minus |
---|---|
genitive | minusnıñ |
dative | minusqa |
accusative | minusnı |
locative | minusta |
ablative | minustan |
References edit
Czech edit
Etymology edit
Derived from Latin minus, from minor.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
minus
Noun edit
minus m inan or n
Declension edit
when masculine:
Indeclinable when neuter.
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
Esperanto edit
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
minus
- minus
- Antonym: plus
- Tri minus du estas unu. ― Three minus two is one.
- 1961, Esperantologio, page 156:
- Ni povas principe eliri aŭ de la nominativa formo (finaĵo nul aŭ -s) aŭ de la genitiva formo (minus la finaĵo -os); […]
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 2008, Christian Declerck, Spitaj – kiel hidrargo, Antwerp: Flandra Esperanto-Ligo, →ISBN, page 85:
- ‘La universala estas la loka minus la muroj,’ diris Marteno.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Adjective edit
minus
- minus
- 1913, La Revuo, page 395:
- Ho mia Dio! la muro estas vertikala, eĉ negative kruta. La angulo kun la vertikalo estas minus kvin gradoj, ĉar mi ankoraŭ povas matematike pensi.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 2015, Esteban Sánchez, Gramática Práctica del Esperanto, →ISBN, page 132:
- dek ok minus dudek estas minus du
- eighteen minus twenty is minus two
- 2019, Sten Johansson, Ne eblas aplaŭdi unumane, New York, N.Y.: Mondial, →ISBN, page 41:
- La taga temperaturo kutime restadis inter minus dek kaj dek kvin gradoj, kion oni ĉi tie konsideris milda.
- The daytime temperature usually stayed between minus ten and fifteen degrees, which was considered mild here.
German edit
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
minus
- (mathematics) minus, less
See also edit
Interlingua edit
Adverb edit
minus (not comparable)
- less (used to form comparatives)
le minus
Antonyms edit
Latin edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Italic *minos. Related to minor.
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈmi.nus/, [ˈmɪnʊs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈmi.nus/, [ˈmiːnus]
Adjective edit
minus
Adverb edit
minus
- comparative degree of parum (“very little, too few, not enough”) [2]
- comparative degree of paulum (“very little”)
Descendants edit
References edit
- “minus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- sin in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2024), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
- “minus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- minus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Etymology edit
Adverb edit
minus
Derived terms edit
References edit
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Etymology edit
Adverb edit
minus
Derived terms edit
References edit
- “minus” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Polish edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
minus m inan
- minus, minus sign
- Antonym: plus
Declension edit
Declension of minus
Further reading edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Adverb edit
minus
Noun edit
minus n (plural minusuri)
Declension edit
Declension of minus
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) minus | minusul | (niște) minusuri | minusurile |
genitive/dative | (unui) minus | minusului | (unor) minusuri | minusurilor |
vocative | minusule | minusurilor |
Serbo-Croatian edit
Noun edit
mínus m (Cyrillic spelling ми́нус)
Declension edit
Swedish edit
Noun edit
minus n
Preposition edit
minus
- (mathematics) minus
- Tre minus två är ett.
- Three minus two is one.
Derived terms edit
Veps edit
Pronoun edit
minus