1530s, "condition of being smaller," from Middle French minorité (15c.), or directly from Medieval Latin minoritatem (nominative minoritas), from Latin minor (see minor (adj.)). Meaning "state of being under legal age" is from 1540s; that of "smaller number or part" is from 1736. The meaning "group of people separated from the rest of a community by race, religion, language, etc." is from 1919, originally in an Eastern European context.
例文
1. A minority of officers were prepared to bend the rules.
少数の役人が規則を改竄する準備をしている。
2.Only a minority of the people supported the Revolution.
この革命を支持しているのは少数の人だけです。
3.In the past conservatives have been in the minority .
は、かつて保守派が少数派だった。
4.Local authority nursery provision covers only a tiny minority of working mothers.
地元政府が提供する保育サービスは、少数のサラリーマンの母親だけが楽しむことができる。
5. Minority cultures within the United States often raised issues of cross-cultural conflict.