English Explanatory Dictionary

major

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Greater in dignity, rank, importance, significance, or interest.
  2. Greater in number, quantity, or extent.
  3. Notable or conspicuous in effect or scope.
  4. Prominent or significant in size, amount, or degree.
  5. Involving great risk, serious, life-threatening.
  6. Of full legal age, having attained majority.
  7. Of or relating to a subject of academic study chosen as a field of specialization.
  8. Having intervals of a semitone between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees. (of a scale)
  9. 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)
  10. Having a major third above the root.
  11. (of a key) Based on a major scale, tending to produce a bright or joyful effect.
  12. Bell changes rung on eight bells.
noun
  1. A rank of officer in the army and the US air force, between captain and lieutenant colonel.
  2. An officer in charge of a section of band instruments, used with a modifier.
  3. A person of legal age.
  4. Ellipsis of major key.
  5. Ellipsis of major interval.
  6. Ellipsis of major scale.
  7. A system of change-ringing using eight bells.
  8. A large, commercially successful company, especially a record label that is bigger than an indie.
  9. The principal subject or course of a student working toward a degree at a college or university.
  10. A student at a college or university specializing on a given area of study.
  11. Ellipsis of major term.
  12. Ellipsis of major premise.
verb
  1. Used in a phrasal verb: major in.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Owsley County, Kentucky, United States.
  3. A village in the Rural Municipality of Prairiedale, No. 321, Saskatchewan, Canada.
noun
  1. Title for an army officer with the rank of major.

Pronunciation

mā'jə /ˈmeɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/ [ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)] [ˈmɛjd͡ʒə(ɹ)] [ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒɚ] en-us-major.ogg [ˈmeːd͡ʒɚ] [ˈmæɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)] en-au-major.ogg

Word forms

major more major most major majour majors majoring majored

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs Proto-Italic *magjōs Latin maiorder. Middle English major English major 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.

Synonyms

main considerable course

Antonyms

minor

Related words

état major labia major pectoralis major psoas major rectus capitis posterior major rhomboid major teres major vis major zygomaticus major majorant

Derived words

A-flat major aid-major A major A-sharp major Asia Major B-flat major B major brigade major C-flat major C major comajor C-sharp major Daphne Major D-flat major D major E-flat major E major F-flat major fife major F major F-sharp major generalmajor G-flat major G major G-sharp major in a major key Llantwit Major majorally major appliance major arcana majorate major axis major chord major depressive disorder major diameter major element majoress major general major interval majorise majoritarily majority majorization major junior major key major league majorly major mode major ninth major party major piece major planet major premise major prophet major scale major score major second major seventh major seventh chord major sixth

Translations

Afrikaans: majeur Bulgarian: мажорен Catalan: major Czech: dur Finnish: duuri Finnish: suuri French: majeur German: dur Greek: μείζων Hungarian: dúr Hungarian: nagy Italian: maggiore Norwegian: dur Persian: ماژور Polish: dur Portuguese: maior Russian: мажо́рный Spanish: mayor Turkish: majör Afrikaans: majoor Albanian: major Arabic: رَائِد Arabic: تخصص Armenian: մայոր Azerbaijani: mayor Belarusian: маёр Bengali: মেজর Bulgarian: майо́р Bulgarian: специализация Burmese: ဗိုလ်မှူး Chinese Mandarin: 少校 Chinese Mandarin: 主修 Chinese Mandarin: 專攻 /专攻 Chinese Mandarin: 專業 /专业 Czech: major Danish: major Dutch: majoor Dutch: hoofdvak Esperanto: majoro Esperanto: ĉefa fako Estonian: major Finnish: majuri Finnish: pääaine French: commandant French: major French: chef d'escadrons French: chef d'escadron French: matière principale Galician: maior Georgian: მაიორი German: Major German: Hauptfach German: Hauptstudienfach German: Hauptstudiengang Greek: ταγματάρχης Greek: επισμηναγός Greek: ειδικότητα Hindi: मेजर Hungarian: őrnagy Hungarian: főstrázsamester Hungarian: szak Hungarian: alapszak Hungarian: főszak Hungarian: főtárgy Indonesian: mayor Indonesian: jurusan Irish: maor Irish: maor airm Irish: príomhábhar Italian: maggiore Italian: laurea Italian: corso di laurea Japanese: 少佐 Japanese: 少領 Japanese: 専攻 Korean: 소좌 Korean: 소령 Korean: 전공 Kyrgyz: миң башы Lao: ພັນຕີ Latin: maior Latin: major Latvian: majors Lithuanian: majoras Macedonian: ма́јор Malay: mejar Manx: ard-chaptan Māori: meiha Mongolian: хошууч Persian: سرگرد
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