lower vs minor

lower

verb
  • To fall; to sink; to grow less; to diminish; to decrease 

  • To decrease in value, amount, etc. 

  • To reduce operations to single machine instructions, as part of compilation of a program. 

  • To reduce the degree, intensity, strength, etc., of 

  • To bring down; to humble 

  • (lower oneself) To humble oneself; to do something one considers to be beneath one's dignity. 

  • To let descend by its own weight, as something suspended; to let down 

  • To reduce the height of 

  • To depress as to direction 

  • to pull down 

  • To reduce (something) in value, amount, etc. 

  • To make less elevated 

adj
  • bottom; more towards the bottom than the middle of an object 

  • Situated on lower ground, nearer a coast, or more southerly. 

  • older 

minor

verb
  • Used in a phrasal verb: minor in. 

adj
  • Acting as the subject of the second premise of a categorical syllogism, which then also acts as the subject of its conclusion. 

  • Having semibreves twice as long as a minim. 

  • Underage, not having reached legal majority. 

  • Smaller by a diatonic semitone than the equivalent major interval. 

  • Of or related to a minor, a determinate obtained by deleting one or more rows and columns from a matrix. 

  • Incorporating a minor third interval above the (in scales) tonic or (in chords) root note, (also figurative) tending to produce a dark, discordant, sad, or pensive effect. 

  • Not serious, not involving risk of death, permanent injury, dangerous surgery, or extended hospitalization. 

  • Of or related to the relationship between the longa and the breve in a score. 

  • Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option 

  • Of or related to a minor, a secondary area of undergraduate study. 

noun
  • A formally recognized secondary area of undergraduate study, requiring fewer course credits than the equivalent major. 

  • Any of various noctuid moths in Europe and Asia, chiefly in the Oligia and Mesoligia genera. 

  • A lesser person or thing, a person, group, or thing of minor rank or in the minor leagues. 

  • A determinant of a square matrix obtained by deleting one or more rows and columns. 

  • A person who is completing or has completed such a course of study. 

  • Synonym of behind: a one-point kick. 

  • A child, a person who has not reached the age of majority, consent, etc. and is legally subject to fewer responsibilities and less accountability and entitled to fewer legal rights and privileges. 

  • A leaf-cutter worker ant intermediate in size between a minim and a media. 

  • Changes rung on six bells. 

How often have the words lower and minor occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )