Minyan

//mɪˈnaɪən// adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The minimum number of ten (male) adult Jews required for a communal religious service. Judaism

    "So without my visit, if Simon didn't attend, a minyan would be hard to come by."

  2. 2
    A member of a race said to be autochthonous to the Aegean area. Greek
  3. 3
    the quorum required by Jewish law to be present for public worship (at least ten males over thirteen years of age) wordnet
  4. 4
    A Jewish prayer service. broadly

    "New people assume leadership positions as required and stay around for as long as the minyan meets their needs."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Pertaining to the Minyans. not-comparable
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
assemblybrethrenchurchgoerclassflockfold

Example

More examples

"Ten men make a minyan or quorum for prayer in traditional Judaism."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Hebrew מִנְיָן (minyán, “number, count, quorum”).

Etymology 2

From Latin Minyes (from Ancient Greek Μινύες (Minúes)) + -an.

Related phrases

Minyan ware

More for "minyan"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.