minimal pair

min·i·mal pair

M m

Definitions of minimal pair words

noun minimal pair a pair of words, as pin and bin, or bet and bed, differing only by one sound in the same position in each word, especially when such a pair is taken as evidence for the existence of a phonemic contrast between the two sounds. 1
noun minimal pair a pair of speech elements in a given language differing in only one respect and thus serving to identify minimum units such as phonemes, morphemes, etc. For example, tin and din constitute a minimal pair in English 0

before 1940

One of the 7% newest English words

First recorded in 1940-45

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 29% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.

According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer