Phrase guide

minimum wage

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌmɪnɪməm ˈweɪd͡ʒ/
  • General-American: /ˌmɪnəməm ˈweɪd͡ʒ/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪdʒ

1

noun

Meaning 1

The lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee, usually expressed as pay per hour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: economics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: maximum wage

2

noun

Meaning 2

the lowest wage that an employer is allowed to pay; determined by contract or by law

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: wage, pay, earnings, remuneration, salary

History

Etymology

From minimum (adjective) + wage.

Across languages

Translations

81 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: paga minimale — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Arabic: حد أدنى للأجور — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Armenian: նվազագույն աշխատավարձ (nvazaguyn ašxatavarj) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Asturian: remuneración mínima — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Asturian: salariu mínimu — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Asturian: sueldu mínimu — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Azerbaijani: minimum aylıq əməkhaqqı — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Azerbaijani: minimum əməkhaqqı — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Basque: gutxieneko soldata — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Bulgarian: минимална работна заплата (minimalna rabotna zaplata) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Catalan: quantia retributiva mínima — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Catalan: salari mínim — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Catalan: salari mínim interprofessional — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Chinese Mandarin: 最低工資 /最低工资 (zuìdī gōngzī) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Chuvash: минималлӑ шалу (minimallă š̬alu) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Cornish: gober ispoyntel — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Czech: minimální mzda — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Danish: mindsteløn — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Dutch: minimumloon — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Estonian: alampalk — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Estonian: minimaalpalk — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Estonian: miinimumpalk — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Estonian: palga alammäär — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Finnish: minimipalkka — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Finnish: vähimmäispalkka — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • French: salaire minimum — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • French: SMIC — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • West-Frisian: minimumlean — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Galician: remuneración mínima — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Galician: salario mínimo — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Galician: soldo mínimo — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Georgian: მინიმალური ხელფასი (minimaluri xelpasi) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • German: Mindestlohn — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Greek: κατώτατος μισθός (katótatos misthós) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Gujarati: લઘુતમ વેતન (laghutam vetan) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Hebrew: שכר מינימום — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Hindi: न्यूनतम मज़दूरी (nyūntam mazdūrī) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Hungarian: minimálbér — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Indonesian: upah minimum — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Irish: íosphá — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Irish: pá íosta — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Italian: salario minimo — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Japanese: 最低賃金 (saitei chingin) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Kazakh: ең төмен жалақы (eñ tömen jalaqy) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Korean: 최저임금 (choejeoimgeum) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Lombard: salari minim — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Macedonian: минима́лна плата (minimálna plata) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Malay: gaji minimum — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Marathi: किमान वेतन (kimān vetan) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Nepali: न्यूनतम ज्याला (nyūnatam jyālā) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Norwegian Bokmål: minstelønn — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: minstelønn — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: minsteløn — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Pashto: د معاش تر ټولو لږ کچه — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Persian: حداقل دستمزد — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Polish: najniższa krajowa — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Polish: płaca minimalna — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Portuguese: salário mínimo — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Punjabi: ਘੱਟੋ-ਘੱਟ ਉਜਰਤ (ghaṭṭo-ghaṭṭa ujarat) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Romanian: salariu minim pe economie — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Russian: минима́льная зарпла́та (minimálʹnaja zarpláta) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Serbo-Croatian: ми̏нима̄лна пла́та — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Serbo-Croatian: mȉnimālna pláta — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Slovak: minimálna mzda — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Slovene: minimalna plača — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Spanish: salario mínimo — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Spanish: salario mínimo interprofesional — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Spanish: SMI — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Swedish: minimilön — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Tagalog: kubdulang sahod — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Telugu: కనీసవేతనము (kanīsavētanamu) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Thai: ค่าจ้างขั้นต่ํา (kâa-jâang-kân-dtàm) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Turkish: minimum ücret — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Turkish: asgari ücret — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Ukrainian: мінімалка (minimalka) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Ukrainian: мініма́льна заробі́тна пла́та (minimálʹna zarobítna pláta) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Ukrainian: мініма́льна зарпла́та (minimálʹna zarpláta) — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Uzbek: bazaviy hisoblash miqdori — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Uzbek: eng kam ish haqi — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Uzbek: ish haqi minimumi — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee
  • Vietnamese: lương tối thiểu — lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee