minus

B1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

US /ˈmɑe.nəs/ UK /ˈmaɪ.nəs/ See IPA manual

Freq #5575

Meanings

1

prep
Made smaller by taking away a number; less.

Seven minus two is five.
2

prep
Without; missing something.

He came back from the trip minus his suitcase.
3

adj
Below zero on a scale.

The temperature dropped to minus seven degrees overnight.
4

noun
A disadvantage or negative point.

The only minus of the new flat is that it has no garden.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 prep · without; missing something. without lacking

3 adj · below zero on a scale. below zero

More defect deficiency drawback flaw negative shortcoming

Opposites

advantage bonus boon gain plus

Word family

Forms minusesminusses

Derived forms hyphen-minusice-minusminus-alpha-pineneminus-onemix-minuspi-minusplus-minust-minus

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

minus sign
the symbol used to indicate subtraction or a negative value

Noun + noun

Etymology

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”).

*mey- (small) Proto-Indo-European mynus Middle English minus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# minus

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** prep, adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈmɑe.nəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈmaɪ.nəs/
**Frequency rank:** 5575

## Meanings
1. Made smaller by taking away a number; less.
2. Without; missing something.
3. Below zero on a scale.
4. A disadvantage or negative point.

## Examples
- Seven minus two is five.
- He came back from the trip minus his suitcase.
- The temperature dropped to minus seven degrees overnight.
- The only minus of the new flat is that it has no garden.

## Synonyms
- defect
- deficiency
- drawback
- flaw
- negative
- shortcoming

## Antonyms
- advantage
- bonus
- boon
- gain
- plus

## Derived Forms
- hyphen-minus
- ice-minus
- minus-alpha-pinene
- minus-one
- mix-minus
- pi-minus
- plus-minus
- t-minus

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *mey- (small)
- Root: mynus
- Root: minus

## Etymology
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”).

## AI Etymology
Minus comes 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”). In present-day English its meanings include made smaller by taking away a number; less, without; missing something, and below zero on a scale. The historical chain runs through *mey- (small) (Proto-Indo-European), mynus (Middle English), and minus (Latin). Related and derived forms include hyphen-minus, ice-minus, and minus-alpha-pinene.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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