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# minoan

«minoan» in Mova's school dictionary: **To do with the Minoans, an ancient Bronze Age…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (Minoan); noun (a Minoan, Minoans)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (history) To do with the Minoans, an ancient Bronze Age civilisation on the Greek island of Crete, from about 3000 to 1100 BC. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#m1)

2) (noun) A person from that civilisation. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In history lessons on Ancient Greece, the Minoans built great palaces like Knossos, painted colourful wall pictures (frescoes) of dolphins and bull-leaping, and traded by sea. Their name comes from the legendary King Minos, who in myth kept the Minotaur in a labyrinth. Their writing, Linear A, has still not been deciphered. Phrases: «Minoan civilisation», «Minoan palace», «Minoan art».

### examples

- The Minoans lived on the island of Crete. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#x1)
- The Minoan palace of Knossos had hundreds of rooms. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#x2)
- Minoan frescoes show dolphins and young people leaping over bulls. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#x3)
- The Minoan civilisation is named after the legendary King Minos. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#x4)
- Nobody can yet read the Minoan writing called Linear A. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#x5)
- A huge volcanic eruption on Thera hurt Minoan trade. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#x6)
- Minoan sailors traded with Egypt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#x7)
- The Minoans were one of the first great civilisations in Europe. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/#x8)

### note

Written with a capital M because it comes from a name. Pronounced «mi-NOH-an». King Minos and the Minotaur are myths; the Minoan palaces are real archaeology. Not a maths word, but BC dates count backwards (3000 BC is earlier than 1100 BC).

### In the corpora

- [The Minotaur is a myth, but bull-leaping was a real sport or ritual of the Minoans.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/11-ancient-greece-city-states-athens-and-sparta/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «minoan» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/minoan/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.