Major

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈmeɪ.dÊ’.É™(ɹ)/
• US IPA: /ˈmeɪdÊ’Éš/
• Rhymes: -eɪdÊ’É™(ɹ)

Alternative forms

• majour obsolete

From French major

Alternative forms

• Maj. abbreviation

Noun

1. a military rank between captain and lieutenant colonelHe used to be a major in the army.This is Major Jones.

Usage notes

When used as a title, it is always capitalized.

Example: Major Jane Payne.

The rank corresponds to pay grade O-4. Abbreviations: Maj. and MAJ.

Related terms

• majority
• sergeant-major

Middle English major, from Latin maior, comparative of magnus ("great"), from Proto-Indo-European *maǵ-yes- "greater", comparative of *maǵ-, *meǵ-, "great".

Adjective

adjective

1. Of great significance or importance.
• 2013-06-21, Karen McVeigh, US rules human genes can't be patented, 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.the major part of the assembly
3. Of full legal age; having attained majority.
4. (music) Of a scale which follows the pattern: tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitonea major scale.
5. (music) Being the larger of two intervals denoted by the same ordinal number.
6. (music) Containing the note which is a major third (four half steps) above the tonic.

Derived terms

• majorly

Antonyms

• minor

Full definition of major

Noun

1. (US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) The main area of study of a student working toward a degree at a college or university.Midway through his second year of college, he still hadn't chosen a major.
2. (US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) A student at a college or university concentrating on a given area of study.She is a math major.
3. A person of legal age.
4. (logic) The major premise.
5. (Canadian football) An alternate term for touchdown; short for "major score".

Antonyms

• (a person of legal age) minor

Verb

1. to concentrate on a particular area of study as a student in a college or universityI have decided to major in mathematics.

Anagrams

• joram