minus, quasi-prep., adv., a., and n.
(ˈmaɪnəs)
Also 5 mynus.
[a. L. minus neut. of minor less: see minor a.
The quasi-prepositional use (sense 1), from which all the other Eng. uses have been developed, did not exist in Latin of any period. It probably originated in the commercial language of the Middle Ages. In Germany, and perhaps in other countries, the Latin words plus and minus were used by merchants to mark an excess or deficiency in weight or measure, the amount of which was appended in figures. The earliest known examples of the modern sense of minus are German, of about the same date as our oldest quotation. In Widmann's book on commercial arithmetic (1489) the signs (-) and (+) occur for the first time in print, and are directed to be read as minus and mer. In the Bamberger Rechenbuch (1483) the tare to be deducted from the weight of a package is called das Minus. In a somewhat different sense, plus and minus had been employed in 1202 by Leonardo of Pisa for the excess and deficiency in the results of the two suppositions in the Rule of Double Position; and an Italian writer of the 14th c. used meno to indicate the subtraction of a number to which it was prefixed. For the passages referred to, see Cantor, Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Mathematik II. (ed. 2, 1899).
The origin of the symbol (-), read as minus, is disputed; some have conjectured that it arose as a merchants' mark, while others believe it to descend from the obelus (see obelisk 2) used by ancient critics to indicate that a passage should be removed from the text. It has certainly no historical connexion with the mark {udpsi} (explained as the letter ψ inverted) used by Diophantus for the same purpose. In Denmark the sign ({div}) is used for minus.]
1. a. quasi-prep. Placed between two expressions of number or quantity to indicate that the second of them must be subtracted from the first. In mathematical use only as the oral rendering of the symbol (-). Hence, in non-technical use: With the deduction of, exclusive of (some specified portion or constituent element of the whole). Cf. less a. 4, and the equivalent F. moins, G. weniger.
| 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 417, v. yerdys, mynus the nayle, welwet blake. 1727–52 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Character, Thus 14-2, is read, 14 minus, or abating, 2. 1808 J. W. Croker Sk. St. Irel. (ed. 2) 42 Competitors offer the whole value of the produce minus that daily potatoe. 1811 East K.B. Rep. XIII. 214 There was not 100l. due..but only that sum minus the rebate of interest for the times which the bills had then to run. 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 123 It might be supposed..that acetic acid is alcohol minus carbon. 1849–52 Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 962/2 An imperfect cranium, composed principally of the cranial, minus the facial, bones. 1859 Mill Liberty ii, If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion. 1874 J. Caird University Addr. (1898) 16 The least and lowest fact of outward observation is not a bare fact, an independent entity, fact minus mind. |
b. predicatively in colloquial use: Deprived of, ‘short of’, without (something). Also rarely
minus of. Hence
occas. as
adj., standing in the position of a loser, worse off than before; also, unprovided, destitute of something implied.
| 1813 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 44 He was considerably minus at the last Newmarket meeting. 1823 Byron Juan vi. xxi, Which leaves you minus of the cash. 1836 Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 33 Twelve boatmen..with very small matters of clothes on, but their black skins prevent them from looking so very uncomfortable as Europeans would in the same minus state. 1840 J. B. Fraser Trav. Koordistan, etc. II. xv. 310 We reached our munzil of Toorkomanchai about six in the evening, minus one horse. 1861 Calverley Lines 14th Feb. (ii.) 10 Yea! by St. Valentinus, Emma shall not be minus What all young ladies..Expect to-day. 1903 Review of Rev. Apr. 385/2 The Englishman got back to civilization minus his left arm. |
2. a. Used as the oral equivalent of the symbol (-) in its algebraical interpretation, as forming with the expression to which it is prefixed the representation of a negative quantity,
e.g. in ‘- 3’, ‘-
x’, which are read as
minus 3,
minus x;
spec. as part of an examiner's mark, as in α- (read as alpha minus).
| 1579 Digges Stratiot. ii. iv. 38 The same or like Signes multiplied produce + Plus. Contrarie or diuerse Signes produce alway - Minus. 1932 A. Huxley Brave New World iv. 75 He..called to a lounging couple of Delta-Minus attendants to come and push his machine out. 1958 [see beta 3]. 1962 M. Drabble Summer Bird-Cage i. 13, I..got on the train, where I read..Tender is the Night (beta minus). |
b. Hence
attrib. or as adj. in
minus quantity, a quantity which has the sign (-), a negative quantity; popularly often misused for ‘something non-existent’; also
transf., insignificant.
| 1863 W. Phillips Speeches xvii. 392 Such states are a minus quantity. 1916 R. Fry Let. 14 Aug. (1972) II. 401, I fear my recommendation would generally prove a minus quantity. 1922 Wodehouse Clicking of Cuthbert ix. 221 He might be a pretty minus quantity in a drawing-room or at a dance, but in a bunker or out in the open with a cleek, Eunice felt, you'd be surprised. 1965 F. Sinclair Most Unnatural Murder xv. 174 Cherub and Phyl wouldn't play; Phyl's a bit of a minus quantity, anyway, from that angle. |
c. adj. Of the nature of a ‘minus quantity’ or deficit; also
colloq. lacking, non-existent; absent.
| 1800 Proc. Parlt. in Asiat. Ann. Reg. 49/2 There were six millions minus. 1852 C. A. Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. 53 His mathematics are decidedly minus, but the use of them is past long ago. 1853 Dickens Down with Tide in Househ. Words 5 Feb. 483/2 Being, when called upon to answer for the assault, what Waterloo described as ‘Minus’, or, as I humbly conceived it, not to be found. 1858 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold iii. xiv. 342 If we ain't minus in less than no time, we're blowed upon. 1867 Carlyle Remin. (1881) II. 144 The villain of a partner eloped, and left him possessor of a minus 12,000l. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 62 Penalise. Strictly speaking, a penalty is a minus handicap, i.e. the man who is giving the other competitors starts, is placed behind the line from which the distance to be run is reckoned. |
d. adv. and adj. Negatively (electrified).
| 1747 Franklin Lett. Wks. 1887 II. 71 B is electrized plus; A, minus. And we daily in our experiments electrize bodies plus or minus, as we think proper. 1789 Nicholson in Phil. Trans. LXXIX. 270 It affords the means of producing either the plus or minus states in one and the same conductor. 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 5 A body having more than its natural quantity [of electric fluid] is electrified positively or plus, and one which has less is electrified negatively or minus. 1854 J. Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sci., Chem. 225 Its counterpart of - or minus electricity. |
| fig. 1817 Coleridge Statesm. Man. 54 Apparent contraries, which are yet but the two poles, or Plus and Minus states, of the same influence. |
e. Followed by the name of a colour to designate the complementary colour,
i.e. that of white light from which the specified colour has been removed; so
minus colour.
| 1901 Cadett & Shepherd Orthochromatic & Three-Colour Photogr. 24 [In the Sanger Shepherd process] the prints for the minus green or pink, and minus blue or yellow positives are printed together on a special film. 1901 Chambers's Jrnl. 4 May 366/2 The prefix ‘minus’ attached to a primary colour..[implies] that this particular colour is cut out of the spectrum of white light, and that the negatively-named compound is a blend of the hues remaining. ‘White minus red’, ‘white minus green’, and ‘white minus blue’ would be the complete expressions; they are ordinarily termed complementary colours. 1936 Discovery Jan. 2/1 It [sc. Monastral Fast Blue BS] is a true ‘minus-red’ pigment for three-colour printing. 1939 J. H Coote Making Colour Prints 17 The three colours which are used for ‘subtraction’ are described as ‘minus’ colours. 1970 D. L. MacAdam Sources of Color Sci. 130 Red, green, and blue, being the colors in positive synthesis, minus red, minus green, and minus blue, or cyan blue, bright crimson and yellow are the printing colors. |
3. n. in various applications:
a. The mathematical symbol (-); also
minus sign.
b. An operation of subtraction, a quantity subtracted or taken away; a loss, deficiency.
c. A negative quantity.
| 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 385 For the Algebra (as I may tearm it) or Nature of Reprehension, giveth the Plus to the Reprover, and the Minus to the Reproved. 1668 T. Brancker Introd. Algebra 4 The Sign for Subtraction is - i.e. Minus, or the Negative Sign. 1685 Wallis Algebra xvi. 69 The Signs + and - (or Plus and Minus) the former of which is a Note of Position, Affirmation or Addition; the other of Defect, Negation, or Subduction. 1708 Prior Turtle & Sparrow 329 Now weigh the pleasure with the pain, The plus and minus, loss and gain. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer xxvi, A slatefull of plusses, minusses, x, y, z's. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. vi. xlviii, That new gambling, in which the losing was not simply a minus but a terrible plus that had never entered into her reckoning. |
Hence
ˈminus v. trans. (
nonce-wd.), to subject to a loss or privation.
| 1801 Coleridge Let. to Southey 13 Apr. in Life of S. (1850) II. 146 Alas! you will have found the dear old place sadly minused by the removal of Davy. |