major

• majour (obsolete)

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.^[1]

• enPR: mā'jə(r) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]
  • (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛjd͡ʒə(ɹ)]
  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): [ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒɚ]

    • Audio (Southern California):

      (file)

  • (Canada) IPA^(key): [ˈmeːd͡ʒɚ]
  • (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): [ˈmæɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]

    • Audio (Queensland):

      (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪdʒə(ɹ)

major (comparative more major, superlative most major)

1. (attributive):
   1. Greater in dignity, rank, importance, significance, or interest.
      • 2013 June 13, Karen McVeigh, “US supreme court rules human genes cannot be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[1], volume 189, number 2, page 10:

        The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.

   2. Greater in number, quantity, or extent.

      Synonym: main

      the major part of the assembly

   3. Notable or conspicuous in effect or scope.

      Synonym: considerable

   4. Prominent or significant in size, amount, or degree.

      to earn some major cash

      a major exhibition

      • 1995, “I Got 5 on It”, in Operation Stackola, performed by Luniz:

        I gotta take a whiz test to my PO / I know I failed 'cause I done smoked major weed, bro

      • 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 129:

        [B]y the time I turned back to the screen, Jamie was fully dressed, major bummer.

   5. (medicine) Involving great risk, serious, life-threatening.

      to suffer from a major illness

2. Of full legal age, having attained majority.

   major children

3. (education) Of or relating to a subject of academic study chosen as a field of specialization.
4. (music):
   1. Having intervals of a semitone between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees. (of a scale)

      major scale

   2. Equivalent to that between the tonic and another note of a major scale, and greater by a semitone than the corresponding minor interval. (of an interval)

      major third

      1. Having a major third above the root.

         major triad

   3. (postpositive) (of a key) Based on a major scale, tending to produce a bright or joyful effect.
   4. (campanology) Bell changes rung on eight bells.
5. (UK, dated) Indicating the elder of two brothers (or the eldest of three), appended to a surname in public schools.
6. (logic)
   1. Occurring as the predicate in the conclusion of a categorical syllogism. (of a term)
   2. Containing the major term in a categorical syllogism. (of a premise)

• minor

major (plural majors)

2. (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.

   1. An officer in charge of a section of band instruments, used with a modifier.

      Meronyms: drum major, trumpet major

3. A person of legal age.

   Antonym: minor

4. (music):
   1. Ellipsis of major key.
   2. Ellipsis of major interval.
   3. Ellipsis of major scale.
   4. (campanology) A system of change-ringing using eight bells.
5. A large, commercially successful company, especially a record label that is bigger than an indie.
   • 1997, Dominic Pride, “U.S. success caps global impact of XL's prodigy”, in Billboard‎^[2], volume 109, number 30, page 86:

     At the end of last year, the band re-signed to XL for another three albums, despite being chased by majors that included Island, says manager Mike Champion of Midi Management.

6. (education, Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand) The principal subject or course of a student working toward a degree at a college or university.

   Synonym: (UK) course

   Midway through his second year of college, he still hadn't chosen a major.

   1. A student at a college or university specializing on a given area of study.

      She is a math major.

7. (logic):
   1. Ellipsis of major term.
   2. Ellipsis of major premise.
8. (bridge) Ellipsis of major suit.
9. (Canadian football) A touchdown, or major score.
10. (Australian rules football) A goal.
11. (British slang, dated) An elder brother (especially at a public school).
12. (entomology) A large leaf-cutter ant that acts as a soldier, defending the nest.
13. (obsolete) Alternative form of mayor and mair.

major (third-person singular simple present majors, present participle majoring, simple past and past participle majored)

1. (intransitive) Used in a phrasal verb: major in.

• double-major

• majorant

• “major”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “major”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

• Jarmo, joram

Inherited from Latin maiōrem.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [məˈʒo]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [maˈd͡ʒoɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

major m or f (masculine and feminine plural majors)

1. larger (superlative: el major / la major—largest)
2. older (superlative: el major / la major—oldest)
3. main, principal
4. (music) major

• majorista
• majorment

• majoria

major m (plural majors)

1. (military) major

major m or f by sense (plural majors)

1. someone of age, adult

• “major”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “major”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “major” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “major” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmajor]

major m anim (relational adjective majorský)

1. major (military)

• “major”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “major”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Borrowed from German Major, from Spanish, from Latin maior.

major (genitive majori, partitive majorit)

1. major (rank)

Declension of major (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		major	majorid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	majori
genitive			majorite
partitive		majorit	majoreid
illative		majorisse	majoritesse majoreisse
inessive		majoris	majorites majoreis
elative		majorist	majoritest majoreist
allative		majorile	majoritele majoreile
adessive		majoril	majoritel majoreil
ablative		majorilt	majoritelt majoreilt
translative		majoriks	majoriteks majoreiks
terminative		majorini	majoriteni
essive		majorina	majoritena
abessive		majorita	majoriteta
comitative		majoriga	majoritega

• kindralmajor

From Middle French major, from Spanish mayor, from Latin maior. Doublet of maire, majeur, and mayeur. The use for a non-commissioned officer in the French army (since 1972) is a short form of adjudant-major or sergent-major.

• IPA^(key): /ma.ʒɔʁ/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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major m or f (plural majors) (military)

1. (France) the highest non-commissioned officer rank: sergeant major, “major”

   Coordinate terms: (other armies) adjudant-chef, adjudant-major

2. (North America, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, DRC) major (field officer rank)

   Coordinate terms: (French army) commandant, chef, (navies) capitaine de corvette

• “major”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

From Bavarian [Term?], compare Middle High German meier, Old High German meior, meiū̌r, standard German Meier (“administrator or leaseholder of a manor”); ultimately from Latin maior (“greater; leader”). The semantic shift from the person to the place is unclear; either via their identification, or by a clipping of a derivation like majorság, majorház, majorszoba.^[1] The German equivalent terms for the place are Meierhof and Meierei (“feudal manor”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɒjor]
• Hyphenation: ma‧jor
• Rhymes: -or

major (plural majorok)

1. farm

• (farm): major in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• ([archaic] major [military rank]): major , redirecting to its synonym őrnagy in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

• IPA^(key): /maˈʒor/

major (not comparable)

1. comparative degree of grande: bigger

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmaj.jɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmaː.jor]

major (comparative, neuter majus, positive magnus); third declension

1. alternative spelling of maior

Third-declension comparative adjective.

• “major”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "major", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Borrowed from German Major, from Latin maior. Doublet of mer (“mayor”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.jɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ajɔr
• Syllabification: ma‧jor

major m pers (abbreviation mjr)

1. major (military rank)

• major in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• major in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French major.^[1] Doublet of maior and mor.

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɾ
• Hyphenation: ma‧jor

major m or f by sense (plural majores)

1. (military) major (military rank)
2. (Brazil, colloquial, used in the vocative) A term of address for someone

   Synonyms: amigo, chefe, grande, jogador, capitão

major m (plural majores)

1. (Brazil) brown-chested martin (Progne tapera)

   Synonym: andorinha-do-campo

major m or f (plural majores)

1. (rare) major

   Synonym: maior

• “major”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “major”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “major”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “major”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN

Borrowed from French majeur, from Latin maior. Doublet of maior and possibly mare.

major m or n (feminine singular majoră, masculine plural majori, feminine/neuter plural majore)

1. major (significant)

Borrowed from German Major.

• IPA^(key): /mǎjoːr/
• Hyphenation: ma‧jor

màjōr m anim (Cyrillic spelling ма̀јо̄р)

1. (military, Serbo-Croatian) major (rank)

   Synonym: tisućnik

• (Serbo-Croatian): bojnik

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• Audio:

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major c

1. a major^[1]
2. a Squadron Leader^[1] (in the British Royal Air Force)