minor/miner

minor (mī'nər)

Adjective

• Lesser or smaller in amount, extent, or size.
• Lesser in importance, rank, or stature: a minor politician.
• Lesser in seriousness or danger: a minor injury.
• Law. Being under legal age; not yet a legal adult.
• Of or relating to a secondary area of academic specialisation.
• Music. Relating to or being a minor scale.

Noun

• One that is lesser in comparison with others of the same class.
• Law. One who has not reached full legal age.
• A secondary area of specialised academic study, requiring fewer courses or credits than a major.  
• Music. A minor key, scale, or interval.

miner (mī'nər)

Noun

• One whose work or business it is to extract ore or minerals from the earth.
• A machine for the automatic extraction of minerals, especially of coal.
• A soldier, often a specialist, engaged in mining operations.
• Zoology. A leaf miner.