Chapter Minnesinger to Miracle of M by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

Minorate
(Mi"nor*ate) v. t. [L. minoratus; p. p. of minorare to diminish, fr. minor, a. See 1st Minor.] To diminish. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

Minoration
(Mi`nor*a"tion) n. [L. minoratio: cf. F. minoration.] A diminution. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

Minoress
(Mi"nor*ess) n. See Franciscan Nuns, under Franciscan, a.

Minorite
(Mi"nor*ite) n. [L. minor less. Cf. 2d Minor, 3.] A Franciscan friar.

Minority
(Mi*nor"i*ty) n.; pl. Minorities [Cf. F. minorité. See Minor, a. & n.]

1. The state of being a minor, or under age.

2. State of being less or small. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

3. The smaller number; — opposed to majority; as, the minority must be ruled by the majority.

Minos
(Mi"nos) n. (Class. Myth.) A king and lawgiver of Crete, fabled to be the son of Jupiter and Europa. After death he was made a judge in the Lower Regions.

Minotaur
(Min"o*taur) n. [L. Minotaurus, Gr. Minw`tayros; Mi`nos, the husband of Pasiphaë + tay^ros a bull, the Minotaur being the offspring of Pasiphaë and a bull: cf. F. minotaure.] (Class. Myth.) A fabled monster, half man and half bull, confined in the labyrinth constructed by Dædalus in Crete.

Minow
(Min"ow) n. See Minnow.

Minster
(Min"ster) n. [AS. mynster, fr. L. monasterium. See Monastery.] (Arch.) A church of a monastery. The name is often retained and applied to the church after the monastery has ceased to exist (as Beverly Minster, Southwell Minster, etc.), and is also improperly used for any large church.

Minster house, the official house in which the canons of a cathedral live in common or in rotation. Shipley.

Minstrel
(Min"strel) n. [OE. minstrel, menestral, OF. menestrel, fr. LL. ministerialis servant, workman fr. L. ministerium service. See Ministry, and cf. Ministerial.] In the Middle Ages, one of an order of men who subsisted by the arts of poetry and music, and sang verses to the accompaniment of a harp or other instrument; in modern times, a poet; a bard; a singer and harper; a musician. Chaucer.

Minstrelsy
(Min"strel*sy) n.

1. The arts and occupation of minstrels; the singing and playing of a minstrel.

2. Musical instruments. [Obs.] Chaucer.

3. A collective body of minstrels, or musicians; also, a collective body of minstrels' songs. Chaucer. "The minstrelsy of heaven." Milton.

Mint
(Mint) n. [AS. minte, fr. L. mentha, Gr. mi`nqa, mi`nqh.] (Bot.) The name of several aromatic labiate plants, mostly of the genus Mentha, yielding odoriferous essential oils by distillation. See Mentha.

Corn mintis Mentha arvensis. — Horsemintis M. sylvestris, and in the United States Monarda punctata, which differs from the true mints in several respects. — Mountain mintis any species of the related genus Pycnanthemum, common in North America. — Peppermintis M. piperita. — Spearmintis M. viridis. — Water mintis M. aquatica.

Mint camphor. (Chem.) See Menthol. — Mint julep. See Julep. — Mint sauce, a sauce flavored with spearmint, for meats.