Mineur (Fr.)

Minor. Min‘im. (Lat. mi’nim a; It, mi’nim a o1 bian'ca; Fr. mini me or blanche; Ger. hal’be No’te.) 1. A half-note.—2. Sec Notation, §3...Minim-rest, a half-rest. Min‘nesinger,-siinger (Ger., sing. and pl.) One of the German troubadours, or lyric poets and singers of the r2th and 13th centuries, who were exclusively of noble lineage; distinguished from their Southern contemporaries by their chaster conception of love (A/in'ne. Frau'endienst), They accompanied their songs (Min'negesang, written chiefly in the Swabian dialect) on the viol or arpanetta, and their rivalry culminated in grand poetical contests, such as the one immortalized by Wagner in “Tannhauser.”. Their art originated in Austria, spreading thence to the Rhine, Thu ring i a, and Saxony; in the hands of their succe ors, the A/ei*stersinger, it degenerated past recognition.