# minus
## English
### 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”).

### Pronunciation

* enPR: mīn-əs
** (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, New Zealand) IPA: /ˈmaɪnəs/
*** Audio (California):(file)
** (General Australian) IPA: /ˈmɑɪnəs/
* Rhymes: -aɪnəs

### Preposition

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.]
    Synonyms: lacking, without
    I walked out minus my coat.

#### Derived terms

* ice-minus
* minus sign
* T-minus

#### Translations
### Noun

minus (plural minuses or minusses)
* (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

* (defect or deficiency): defect, deficiency, drawback, flaw, shortcoming

#### Antonyms

* (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

* check minus
* hyphen-minus
* minus-one
* minus-plus sign
* minus pool
* plus-minus method
* plus-minus sign
* plus or minus

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Adjective

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 […] .
* (postpositive) Ranking just below (a designated rating). [from 19th c.]
    He got a grade of B minus for his essay.

#### Synonyms

* (negative): negative
* (on the negative part of a scale): below zero (after the noun)

#### Derived terms

* A minus
* F minus
* pi-minus

#### Translations
### Verb

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

* subtract
* subtraction

### References

* Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “minus”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* “minus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* ↑ “minus”, in Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary, London: Collins, 1987, published 1992, →ISBN, page 921, column 1: “The plural can be either minusses or minuses.”

### Anagrams

* in sum, munis, simun

## Crimean Tatar
### Etymology

From Latin minus (“less”).

### Noun

minus
* minus

#### Declension
### References

* Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎, Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

## Czech
### Etymology

Derived from Latin minus, from minor.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈmiːnus]

### Adverb

minus
* minus

### Noun

minus m inan or n
* minus
    Antonym: plus

#### Declension

when masculine:
Indeclinable when neuter.

#### Related terms

* administrace
* administrativa
* administrátor
* administrovat
* deminuce
* deminutivní
* deminutivum
* minimalismus
* minimalista
* minimalistický
* minimalizace
* minimalizovat
* minimální
* minimum
* ministerstvo
* ministr
* ministrant
* minorita
* minuskule
* minuta

### Further reading

* “minus”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “minus”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
* “minus”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

## Esperanto
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈminus]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -inus
* Hyphenation: mi‧nus

### Preposition

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

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 dueighteen 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
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈmiːnʊs]
* Audio:(file)

### Adverb

minus
* (mathematics) minus, less
    Synonym: weniger
    Antonym: plus
    vier minus drei ist eins. ― 4–3=1

### See also

* Minus

## Interlingua
### Adverb

minus (not comparable)
* less (used to form comparatives)
le minus
* the least (used to form superlatives)

#### Antonyms

* plus

## Latin
### Alternative forms

* menus (Merovingian)

### Etymology

From Proto-Italic *minos, neuter of *minōs. Related to minor.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈmi.nus/, [ˈmɪnʊs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈmi.nus/, [ˈmiːnus]

### Adjective

minus
* nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of minor

### Adverb

minus
* comparative degree of parum (“very little, too few, not enough”)
* comparative degree of paulum (“very little”)
    sīn minus/aliter/secus ― otherwise, if not

#### Descendants

* Italo-Dalmatian:
** Dalmatian: maine, men
** Italian: meno
* Gallo-Italic:
** Piedmontese: meyn
* Gallo-Romance:
** Catalan: menys
** Occitan: mens
** Old French: moins, meins
*** Middle French: moins
**** French: moins
* Ibero-Romance:
** Old Galician-Portuguese: menos
*** Galician: menos
*** Portuguese: menos
** Old Leonese: menos
*** Asturian: menos
** Old Spanish: menos
*** Ladino: menos
*** Spanish: menos
* Insular Romance:
** Sardinian: minus (Nuorese)
* Borrowings:
** → Czech: minus
** → English: minus
** → Esperanto: minus
** → German: Minus, minus
** → Interlingua: minus
** → Icelandic: mínus
** → Norwegian Bokmål: minus
** → Norwegian Nynorsk: minus
** → Polish: minus
** → Romanian: minus
** → Serbo-Croatian: minus
** → Swedish: minus

### References

* “minus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* sin in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2025), 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)

## Lithuanian
### Etymology

* This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Borrowed from Polish minus?”

### Pronunciation

* This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

### Preposition

mìnus
* minus

### References

* ↑ “minus”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2025

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Latin minus.

### Adverb

minus
* minus

#### Derived terms

* minustegn

### References

* “minus” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
* “minus_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Latin minus.

### Adverb

minus
* minus

#### Derived terms

* minusteikn

### References

* “minus” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin minus (“less”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmi.nus/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -inus
* Syllabification: mi‧nus

### Noun

minus m inan
* minus, minus sign
    Antonym: plus

#### Declension
### Further reading

* minus in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* minus in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin minus.

### Adverb

minus
* minus

### Noun

minus n (plural minusuri)
* minus

#### Declension
## Serbo-Croatian
### Noun

mínus m (Cyrillic spelling ми́нус)
* minus sign
* minuns, defect, deficiency

#### Declension
## Swedish
### Noun

minus n
* minus sign, minus

### Preposition

minus
* (mathematics) minus
    Tre minus två är ett.Three minus two is one.

### Derived terms

* minusa

## Veps
### Pronoun

minus
* inessive of minä