major
UK [ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)] · US [ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒɚ] adjective, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms majors majoring majored majour
- adjective Greater in dignity, rank, importance, significance, or interest.
- adjective Greater in number, quantity, or extent. “the major part of the assembly”
- adjective Notable or conspicuous in effect or scope. “The building underwent a major renovation.”
- adjective Prominent or significant in size, amount, or degree. “to earn some major cash”
- adjective (medicine) Involving great risk, serious, life-threatening. “to suffer from a major illness”
- adjective Of full legal age, having attained majority. “major children”
- adjective (education) Of or relating to a subject of academic study chosen as a field of specialization.
- adjective Having intervals of a semitone between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees. (of a scale) “major scale”
- noun (military) A rank of officer in the army and the US air force, between captain and lieutenant colonel. “He used to be a major in the army.”
- noun An officer in charge of a section of band instruments, used with a modifier.
- noun A person of legal age.
- noun (campanology) A system of change-ringing using eight bells.
- noun A large, commercially successful company, especially a record label that is bigger than an indie.
- noun (education, Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand) The principal subject or course of a student working toward a degree at a college or university. “Midway through his second year of college, he still hadn't chosen a major.”
- noun A student at a college or university specializing on a given area of study. “She is a math major.”
- noun (Canadian football) A touchdown, or major score.
- verb (intransitive) Used in a phrasal verb: major in.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Owsley County, Kentucky, United States.
- proper noun A village in the Rural Municipality of Prairiedale, No. 321, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Synonyms
main considerable course John Major John R. Major John Roy Major
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English major, from Latin maior, comparative of magnus (“great, large; noble, important”), from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs (“greater”), comparative of *meǵh₂- (“great”). Compare West Frisian majoar (“major”), Dutch majoor (“major”), French majeur. Doublet of mayor.
Noun sense 1 is a shortening of sergeant major, perhaps after Spanish mayor in the same sense.
* As an English surname of Norman origin, from the personal name Malgier, via Old French from the Germanic name *Madalgari. See Mauger.
* As a Hungarian surname, shortened from majorosgazda (see Majoros), or borrowed from German Meyer.
* As a Polish, Czech, and Slovak surname, from the military rank major.
* As a Jewish surname, variant of Meyer.
* As a French and Occitan surname, from the adjective majeur and the military rank major. The latter appears in Canadian French, sometimes also as La Major.
Webster’s 1913
- Greater in number, quantity, or extent; as, the major part of the assembly; the major part of the revenue; the major part of the territory.
- Of greater dignity; more important. Shak.
- noun An officer next in rank above a captain and next below a lieutenant colonel; the lowest field officer.
- noun A person of full age.
Etymology [L. major, compar. of magnus great: cf. F. majeur. Cf. Master, Mayor, Magnitude, More, a.]
Etymology [F. major. See Major, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “major”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details