mineures

Mineures is the feminine plural form of the French noun mineure and the feminine plural form of the adjective mineur. In French, mineur means younger or smaller, with feminine forms mineure (singular) and mineures (plural). The term appears in two principal domains: referring to people who are under the age of majority, and describing something of lesser or secondary importance.

As a noun, mineure denotes a female minor. The plural les mineures refers to a group of underage girls. For example, "Les mineures bénéficient de protections spécifiques" indicates that underage girls receive specific protections. This use is common in legal, educational, and social contexts within French-speaking jurisdictions.

As an adjective, mineure describes something smaller in scope, importance, or size. It commonly appears in phrases such as "questions mineures" (minor questions), "affaires mineures" (minor matters), or "détails mineurs" (minor details), the latter using the masculine plural form mineurs to agree with a masculine noun. When the noun is feminine, the form mineures is used, as in "issues mineures" or "mesures mineures." In musical terminology, "gammes mineures" refers to minor scales, where mineure acts as an adjective agreeing with the feminine plural noun gammes.

Etymology traces mineur and its feminine forms to Latin minor, meaning smaller. In modern French, mineures thus serves to agree with feminine plural nouns and to indicate either underage status or lesser extent within a sentence.