minimum wage en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˌmɪnəməm ˈweɪd͡ʒ/ (General-American)
- /ˌmɪnɪməm ˈweɪd͡ʒ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (General-American) audio
Etymology
From minimum (adjective) + wage.
Meanings
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(uncountable, usually) The lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee, usually expressed as pay per hour.
The man who before found nothing to do now finds employment at some rate; while he who formerly worked for the minimum wages of mere labor will now, if energetic and skillful, find employment in some other capacity where his earnings will be largely increased.
1846 April, “Mr. [Robert James] Walker’s Report and Bill”, in George H[ooker] Colton, editor, The American Review: A Whig Journal of Politics, Literature, Art and Science, volume III, number IV, New York, N.Y.: George H. Colton, […], →OCLC, page 345, column 2:The subject of the hearing today is the question on the proposed changes in the federal minimum wage on small businesses and their employees. […] The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established a federal minimum wage of 25 cents an hour for most workers. […] The current basic minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, with a lower wage for tipped employees, certain new hires under the age of 20 and full-time students who work part-time.
2004 April 29, Todd Akin, Would an Increase in the Federal Minimum Wage Help or Hinder Small Business? Hearing before the Subcommittee on Workforce, Empowerment & Government Programs of the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress, Second Session […] (Serial No. 108-61), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 1:The minimum-wage law, as it has been known in recent American discussion, and as it is usually understood in Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, does not refer to a law in which is fixed a single rate below which no worker may be employed, although such laws are in existence in most of the Australasian States. The minimum wage, as understood in this country and Great Britain, is a wage fixed by some agency created by law, after due investigation has been made.
1915 April, Cha[rle]s H[enry] Verrill, “Introduction and Summary”, in Minimum-wage Legislation in the United States and Foreign Countries (Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics; Miscellaneous Series; no. 8 (whole no. 167)), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 6:The only remedy I can suggest is the adoption of a minimum wage for all employés in registered factories. […] If a minimum wage of, say, 2s. 6d. was required to be paid in all factories, the greatest evils of the so-called apprentice system would vanish.
1896 June 1, Harrison Ord, “The Sweating System”, in Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories, Work-rooms, and Shops, for the Year 1895. […], Melbourne, Vic.: Rob[er]t S. Brain, government printer, →OCLC, page 21:At the store where I worked for minimum wage a few years ago, for instance, hours were capped at 39 a week. The company did that as a way to avoid providing the benefits that would kick in once one became a "full time" employee.
2016 February 16, Peter van Buren, quotee, “What Ordinary People Say”, in Anne C. Cunningham, editor, Critical Perspectives on the Minimum Wage, New York, N.Y.: Enslow Publishing, published 2017, →ISBN, page 148:A part of the Bill went to interfere in the bargains made between the master manufacturer and his workmen, upon a principle which could not fail to produce the most mischievous consequences; and he could not help observing, with relation to this point, that the idea of some persons, that a minimum of wages would be beneficial to the workmen employed, was the most mistaken notion that had ever been conceived, for the inevitable consequence must be, that in the case of a slackness of work, the masters would discharge their workers altogether, rather than employ them at the minimum wages.
1812 July 25, [James Maitland, 8th] Earl of Lauderdale, “Frame Work Knitters’ Bill”, in T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, editor, The Parliamentary Debates […] (House of Lords), volume XXIII, London: […] T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, […]; for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown; [et al.], →OCLC, columns 1248–1249:Perhaps their most austere film, 1999’s Palme D'Or-winning Rosetta, tracks the feisty eponymous 17-year-old from a trailer park, where she lives with her alcoholic mother, to a food truck in the industrial wasteland of Seraing, Belgium. She makes less than the minimum wage, if she's lucky enough to work at all.
2012 March 15, Scott Tobias, “The Kid with a Bike [film review]”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 21 Sep 2023:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| minimum wages | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Coordinates
Deriveds
Relateds
Translations (81)
id upah minimum (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · nb minstelønn (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · th ค่าจ้างขั้นต่ำ (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · fa حداقل دستمزد (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · it salario minimo (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · gl soldo mínimo (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ca salari mínim (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ast remuneración mínima (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · te కనీసవేతనము (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ja 最低賃金 (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · sk minimálna mzda (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ast sueldu mínimu (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · fi vähimmäispalkka (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · nn minstelønn (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · mk минима́лна плата (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · pt salário mínimo (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · uk мініма́льна зарпла́та (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ko 최저임금 (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · uz eng kam ish haqi (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · sh ми̏нима̄лна пла́та (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · sq paga minimale (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · nl minimumloon (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ro salariu minim pe economie (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · hu minimálbér (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · kk ең төмен жалақы (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ps د معاش تر ټولو لږ کچه (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · tl kubdulang sahod (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · es salario mínimo (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · cs minimální mzda (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · pl płaca minimalna (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · tr minimum ücret (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · et minimaalpalk (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · gl remuneración mínima (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ne न्यूनतम ज्याला (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · da mindsteløn (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · et miinimumpalk (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ms gaji minimum (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · el κατώτατος μισθός (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · fi minimipalkka (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · fy minimumlean (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · mr किमान वेतन (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · lmo salari minim (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · fr SMIC (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · hy նվազագույն աշխատավարձ (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ru минима́льная зарпла́та (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ca salari mínim interprofessional (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · fr salaire minimum (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · pl najniższa krajowa (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · az minimum aylıq əməkhaqqı (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · gl salario mínimo (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · et alampalk (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ga pá íosta (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · eu gutxieneko soldata (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ga íosphá (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · sh mȉnimālna pláta (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · bg минимална работна заплата (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · cmn 最低工資 /最低工资 (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · pa ਘੱਟੋ-ਘੱਟ ਉਜਰਤ (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ka მინიმალური ხელფასი (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · kw gober ispoyntel (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · sv minimilön (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ca quantia retributiva mínima (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · cv минималлӑ шалу (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · vi lương tối thiểu (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · he שכר מינימום (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · es SMI (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · hi न्यूनतम मज़दूरी (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · az minimum əməkhaqqı (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · uz ish haqi minimumi (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · sl minimalna plača (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · uz bazaviy hisoblash miqdori (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · es salario mínimo interprofesional (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ar حد أدنى للأجور (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · gu લઘુતમ વેતન (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · et palga alammäär (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · de Mindestlohn (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · ast salariu mínimu (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · uk мінімалка (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · tr asgari ücret (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · uk мініма́льна заробі́тна пла́та (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee) · nn minsteløn (lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee)