n. pl. min·ya·nim (mēn-yä-nēm, mĭn-yônĭm) or min·yans (mĭnyənz) 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.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.