# major
## English
### Alternative forms

* majour (obsolete)

### 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.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: mā'jə(r)
* IPA: /ˈmeɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪdʒə(ɹ)

### Adjective

major (comparative more major, superlative most major)
* (attributive):
** 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, 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.
** Greater in number, quantity, or extent.
    Synonym: main
    the major part of the assembly
** Notable or conspicuous in effect or scope.
    Synonym: considerable
** Prominent or significant in size, amount, or degree.
    to earn some major cash
** (medicine) Involving great risk, serious, life-threatening.
    to suffer from a major illness
* Of full legal age, having attained majority.
    major children
* (education) Of or relating to a subject of academic study chosen as a field of specialization.
* (music):
** Having intervals of a semitone between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees. (of a scale)
    major scale
** 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
*** Having a major third above the root.
    major triad
** (postpositive) (of a key) Based on a major scale, tending to produce a bright or joyful effect.
** (campanology) Bell changes rung on eight bells.
* (UK, dated) Indicating the elder of two brothers, appended to a surname in public schools.
* (logic)
** Occurring as the predicate in the conclusion of a categorical syllogism. (of a term)
** Containing the major term in a categorical syllogism. (of a premise)

#### Antonyms

* minor

#### Derived terms

* A-flat major
* aid-major
* A major
* A-sharp major
* Asia Major
* B-flat major
* B major
* brigade major
* C-flat major
* C major
* C-sharp 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
* major appliance
* major arcana
* majorate
* major axis
* major chord
* major depressive disorder
* major diameter
* major element
* major general
* major interval
* majoritarily
* majority
* 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
* major suit
* major term
* major third
* major triad
* semimajor
* sergeant major
* St Brides Major
* St Columb Major
* submajor
* supermajor
* surgeon major

#### Related terms

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

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

major (plural majors)
* (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.
** An officer in charge of a section of band instruments, used with a modifier.
    Meronyms: drum major, trumpet major
* A person of legal age.
    Antonym: minor
* (music):
** Ellipsis of major key.
** Ellipsis of major interval.
** Ellipsis of major scale.
** (campanology) A system of change-ringing using eight bells.
* 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, 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.
* (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.
** A student at a college or university specializing on a given area of study.
    She is a math major.
* (logic):
** Ellipsis of major term.
** Ellipsis of major premise.
* (bridge) Ellipsis of major suit.
* (Canadian football) A touchdown, or major score.
* (Australian rules football) A goal.
* (British slang, dated) An elder brother (especially at a public school).
* (entomology) A large leaf-cutter ant that acts as a soldier, defending the nest.
* (obsolete) Alternative form of mayor and mair.

#### Derived terms

* double major
* majordomo
* majorette
* majorize
* majorship
* midmajor
* minimajor
* nonmajor
* premajor
* woordie major

#### Translations
### Verb

major (third-person singular simple present majors, present participle majoring, simple past and past participle majored)
* (intransitive) Used in a phrasal verb: major in.

#### Derived terms

* double-major

#### Related terms

* majorant

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### References

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

### Anagrams

* Jarmo, joram

## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin maiōrem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [məˈʒo]
* IPA: (Valencia) [maˈd͡ʒoɾ]

### Adjective

major m or f (masculine and feminine plural majors)
* larger (superlative: el major / la major—largest)
* older (superlative: el major / la major—oldest)
* main, principal
* (music) major

#### Derived terms

* majorista
* majorment

#### Related terms

* majoria

### Noun

major m (plural majors)
* (military) major

### Noun

major m or f by sense (plural majors)
* someone of age, adult

### Further reading

* “major” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “major”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “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.

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈmajor]

### Noun

major m anim (relational adjective majorský)
* major (military)

#### Derived terms

* majorka f

### Further reading

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

## Estonian
### Etymology

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

### Noun

major (genitive majori, partitive majorit)
* major (rank)

#### Derived terms

* kindralmajor

## French
### Etymology

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.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ma.ʒɔʁ/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

major m or f (plural majors) (military)
* (France) the highest non-commissioned officer rank: sergeant major, “major”
    Coordinate terms: (other armies) adjudant-chef, adjudant-major
* (North America, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg) major (field officer rank)
    Coordinate terms: (French army) commandant, chef, (navies) capitaine de corvette

#### Derived terms

* maj
* Maj
* maj.
* Maj.

### Further reading

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

## Hungarian
### Etymology

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. The German equivalent terms for the place are Meierhof and Meierei (“feudal manor”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈmɒjor]
* Hyphenation: ma‧jor
* Rhymes: -or

### Noun

major (plural majorok)
* farm

#### Derived terms

* majoros
* majorság

### References

* ↑ Benkő, Loránd, ed. A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára I–IV. (“The Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”). Budapest: Akadémiai, 1967–1984. →ISBN. Vol. 1: A–Gy (1967), vol. 2: H–O (1970), vol. 3: Ö–Zs (1976), vol. 4: index (1984).

### Further reading

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

## Interlingua
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /maˈʒor/

### Adjective

major (not comparable)
* (comparative degree of grande) bigger

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈmai̯.i̯or/, [ˈmäi̯ːɔr]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈma.jor/, [ˈmäːjor]

### Adjective

major (comparative, neuter majus, positive magnus); third declension
* Alternative spelling of maior.

#### Inflection

Third-declension comparative adjective.

### References

* “major”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* "major", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

## Polish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈma.jɔr/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ajɔr
* Syllabification: ma‧jor

### Noun

major m pers (abbreviation mjr)
* major (military rank)

#### Declension
### Further reading

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

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Borrowed from French major. Doublet of maior.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /maˈʒɔʁ/ [maˈʒɔh]
* (Brazil) IPA: /maˈʒɔʁ/ [maˈʒɔh]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /maˈʒɔɾ/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /maˈʒɔʁ/ [maˈʒɔχ]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /maˈʒɔɻ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /mɐˈʒɔɾ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /mɐˈʒɔɾ/
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /mɐˈʒɔ.ɾi/
* Rhymes: -ɔɾ
* Hyphenation: ma‧jor

### Noun

major m or f by sense (plural majores)
* (military) major (military rank)

### Noun

major m (plural majores)
* (Brazil) brown-chested martin (Progne tapera)
    Synonym: andorinha-do-campo

### Adjective

major m or f (plural majores)
* (rare) major
    Synonym: maior

### References

* ↑ “major”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

### Further reading

* “major”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
* “major”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
* “major”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* “major”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025

## Romanian
### Etymology

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

### Adjective

major m or n (feminine singular majoră, masculine plural majori, feminine and neuter plural majore)
* major (significant)

#### Declension
## Serbo-Croatian
### Etymology

Borrowed from German Major, from Latin maior.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mǎjoːr/
* Hyphenation: ma‧jor

### Noun

màjōr m (Cyrillic spelling ма̀јо̄р)
* (military, Serbo-Croatian, Serbo-Croatian) major (rank)
    Synonym: tisućnik

#### Synonyms

* (Serbo-Croatian): bojnik

## Swedish
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

major c
* a major
* a Squadron Leader (in the British Royal Air Force)

#### Declension
### References

* 1 2 Utrikes namnbok (7th ed., 2007) →ISBN