minyan

¹ American  

[meen-yahn, min-yuhn] / minˈyɑn, ˈmɪn yən /

noun

Hebrew.

plural

minyanim,

plural

minyans

1. the number of persons required by Jewish law to be present to conduct a communal religious service, traditionally a minimum of 10 Jewish males over 13 years of age.

2. such a group.

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Minyan ² American  

[min-yuhn] / ˈmɪn yən /

adjective

1. descended from Minyas.

2. being or pertaining to a gray, wheel-thrown pottery produced in ancient Greece during the early part of the Helladic period, c2000 b.c.

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noun

1. Minyans. Also Minyae the descendants of Minyas who inhabited Orchomenus in Boeotia and Iolcus in Thessaly.

minyan British  

/ ˈmɪnjən, minˈjan /

noun

1. the number of persons required by Jewish law to be present for a religious service, namely, at least ten males over thirteen years of age

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Etymology

Origin of minyan

minyān literally, number

Example Sentences

Asked by a prosecutor if his Tree of Life congregation has been able to gather a minyan as easily since the attack, Weiss said it hasn’t.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2023

The minyan meets, the women cook for Shabbat.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2023

Josef’s landlord wants the building to have a minyan, the quorum of 10 people required by Jewish law for communal prayer.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2021

Meanwhile, there are also cultural things that people do want to import which get complicated because it’s Mars, like... how do you have a minyan when there aren’t ten Jewish men on the planet?

From The Verge • Sep. 18, 2018

But suddenly I thought standing in a minyan for somebody’s bar mitzvah was the most important thing in the word.

From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz