See Also: MAJOR(law)
Major(medicine)
major(dictionary)
major(2)(dictionary)
major(1)(dictionary)
Sar-Major(dictionary)
rhomboideus major(medicine)
psoas major(medicine)
pestis major(medicine)
teres major(medicine)

major(1) (iou)



major adjective & noun2. ME.
[Latin, compar. of magnus great. Perh. also infl. by French majeur, maiour, learned var. of Old French maour, accus. of maire MAYOR.]
A. adjective.
Designating the greater or relatively greater of or of two things, classes, etc.; opp. minor. Also, unusually important, serious, or significant; (of an operation) life-threatening. ME.
R. K. Narayan He kept us in his charge for the major part of the day. C. Hampton It's been a day of major catastrophes. B. Reid It's a very young cast, with only two really major adult parts.
b. spec. Designating the elder of two pupils with the same surname or the first to enter a school. (Appended to a surname, and used esp. in public schools.) E17.
Logic. Of a term: occurring as the predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism. Of a premiss: that contains the major term of a syllogism. M16.
J. Morley A man of genius is at liberty to assume all his major premisses.
Of full age; out of one's minority. Chiefly Scot. L16.
Paramount to all other claims. Only in E17.
Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida My major vow lies here, this I'll obey.
Music. Of an interval: normal or perfect, greater by a semitone than the correlative minor interval. Of a key: in which the scale has a major third. Of a scale: with semitones above the third and seventh notes. L17.
K. Amis The key is G major, and..we find the F sharp we expect.
Special collocations & phrases: Friars Major: see FRIAR. major axis Geometry the axis (of a conic section, esp. an ellipse) which passes through the foci; the principal or transverse axis. major circle: see CIRCLE noun. major league N. Amer. the highest-ranking baseball etc. league; fig. a top group. major piece Chess a queen, a rook. major planet: see PLANET noun1. Major Prophet: see PROPHET. major suit Bridge the suit of spades or hearts. major TRANQUILLIZER. PSOAS major. quart major: see QUART noun2 2. quint major: see QUINT noun2. TERES major. tierce major: see TIERCE noun1 4. tonic major: see TONIC adjective 4. URSA Major. VARIOLA major. See also SERGEANT-MAJOR.
b. noun.
Logic. A major term or premiss. ME.
A major individual of a specified class. E17.
A person of full age. E17.
Music. A major interval, key, scale, etc. L18.
In a university, college, etc.: a student's special subject or course; a student specializing in a particular subject. Orig. US. L19.
majorly adverb (colloq.) very; extremely; largely: M20.