major

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Very large, important, or serious.

   Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time.

2. 2
   adj

   Greater in number, size, or amount than others.

   A major portion of the population lives near the coast.

3. 3
   noun

   The main subject a student studies at university.

   My major is linguistics, but I also take history classes.

4. 4
   adj

   In music, of a scale or key that usually sounds bright or happy.

   The song is written in a major key, which gives it a cheerful feel.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Major comes from Latin major ‘greater’, from magnus ‘great’. Its military-rank sense dates from the late 16th century, while the sense ‘serious’ or ‘excessive’ dates from the 1940s.

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.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary