A miner is 1.) a person who digs for coal, lead, gold, or other natural resources. 2.) a soldier who plants explosives in order to blow up enemies and enemy positions. 3.) an Australian bird 4.) a South American bird. The most common use of miner is one who mines, often modified with the item that is being mined such as a gold miner or lead miner. The word miner appears in the late thirteenth century, coming from the Old French minour.
A minor is 1.) a person who is underaged, not capable of legal responsibility 2.) a type of musical key or scale 3.) in North America, a minor is the subsidiary course of study in the pursuit of an undergraduate degree 4.) in North America, a term for secondary sports leagues 5.) a moth. Minor may also be used as an adjective, to describe something that has less importance, a type of musical scale, or in Britain, the younger of two brothers. Minor is also used in North America as an intransitive verb to describe the act of minoring in a subject in college. Related words are minors, minored, and minoring. Minor comes to us in the early thirteenth century from the Latin minor, meaning less, lesser, smaller, junior, inferior, less important.
Examples
In the defunct silver mines of California, Nevada, and Arizona, Michael Allen Harris spends his weekends unearthing denim left behind by miners dating back to the 1800s. (GQ Magazine)
The British government’s new rules make it illegal for anyone to smoke in a vehicle while a minor is present and for a driver to fail to prevent a passenger from lighting up. (The Stars and Stripes)
A 7-year-old child suffered minor injuries after being hit by a car this morning in Point Breeze, according to Pittsburgh public safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler. (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
He spent a day as a big leaguer, watching from the dugout, but was optioned back to the minors without making his debut because Brandon Belt was activated from the concussion DL. (The San Jose Mercury News)
While a journalism student at Indiana University in Bloomington, Saltanovitz minored in business. (The NOrthwest Indiana Times)