Meanings
nounminor third (plural minor thirds)
plural minor thirds
- entertainmentA musical interval in Western music that approximates a frequency ratio of 6:5, spanning two degrees of the diatonic scale.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 小三度
- 小三度 (xiǎosāndù)musical interval
Dutch kleine terts
- kleine tertsmusical interval
Finnish pieni terssi
- pieni terssimusical interval
French tierce mineure
- tierce mineuremusical interval
German kleine Terz
- kleine Terzmusical interval
Hawaiian lele kolu hapa
- lele kolu hapamusical interval
Hungarian kisterc
- kistercmusical interval
Japanese 短三度
- 短三度 (tansando)musical interval
Polish tercja mała
- tercja małamusical interval
Russian ма́лая те́рция
- ма́лая те́рция (málaja tɛ́rcija)musical interval
Spanish tercera menor
- tercera menormusical interval
Swedish sänkt ters, mollters
- sänkt tersmusical interval
- molltersmusical interval
Cite this entry
APA
minor third. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minor%20third
MLA
“minor third.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minor%20third. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “minor third,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minor%20third.
Source: minor third on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.