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min·yan

(mĭnyən, mēn-yän)

n. pl. min·ya·nim (mēn-yä-nēm, mĭn-yônĭm) or min·yans (mĭnyənz)

The minimum number of ten adult Jews or, among the Orthodox, Jewish men required for a communal religious service.

[Hebrew minyān, number, minyan, from Aramaic minyānā, from mənā, to count; see mnw in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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