major

See also Major, and maior

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• majour (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈmeɪ.dʒ.ə(ɹ)/, X-SAMPA: /"meIdZ.@(r\)/
• (US) IPA: /ˈmeɪdʒɚ/, X-SAMPA: /"meIdZ@`/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪdʒə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From French major

Noun

Wikipedia major (plural majors), or, when used as a title before a person's name, Major

1. a military rank between captain and lieutenant colonel

   He 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

Translations

military rank

• Czech: major (cs) m
• Dutch: majoor (nl) m
• Esperanto: majoro (eo)
• Finnish: majuri (fi)
• French: commandant (fr) m
• German: Major (de) m
• Greek: ταγματάρχης (el) (tagmatárchis) m
• Hungarian: őrnagy (hu)
• Indonesian: mayor (id)
• Irish: maor (ga) m

• Italian: maggiore (it) m
• Macedonian: мајор (mk) (májor) m
• Manx: ard-chaptan (gv) m
• Portuguese: major (pt) m
• Romanian: maior (ro) m, maiori (ro) m pl
• Russian: майор (ru) (majór) m
• Serbo-Croatian: bojnik (sh) m, bojnica (sh) f
• Slovene: majór (sl) m, majórka (sl) f
• Spanish: mayor (es) m

Etymology 2

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

Adjective

major

1. Of great significance or importance.
2. (music) Being the larger of two intervals denoted by the same ordinal number.
3. (music) Containing the note which is a major third (four half steps) above the tonic.

Derived terms

• majorly

Antonyms

• minor

Translations

musical chord or key

• Finnish: duuri (fi)
• French: important (fr)
• German: dur (de)

• Italian: principale (it)
• Norwegian: større (no)
• Spanish: mayor (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: hlavní
• Dutch: belangrijk

• Finnish: tärkeä
• Russian: мажо́рный (ru) (mažórnyj)

Noun

major (plural majors)

1. 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. 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

Translations

The main area of study

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 主修 (cmn) (zhǔxiū)

• Dutch: hoofdvak (nl) n
• Finnish: pääaine (fi)
• French: matière principale (fr) f
• German: Hauptfach (de) n

• Greek: ειδικότητα (el) (eidikótita) f
• Indonesian: jurusan (id)
• Japanese: 専攻 (ja) (せんこう, senkō)
• Russian: профилирующая дисциплина (ru) (profilírujuščaja disciplína) f, главный предмет (ru) (glávnyj predmét) m, основной предмет (ru) (osnovnój predmét) m

A student at a college or university concentrating on a given area of study

• Finnish: pääaineopiskelija (fi)
• Greek: ειδικευόμενος (el) (eidikevómenos) m

• Indonesian: jurusan (id)

person of legal age

• Dutch: meerderjarige m or f
• Finnish: täysi-ikäinen (fi)
• French: majeur (fr) m
• German: Volljährige (de) m
• Greek: ενήλικας (el) (enílikas) m and f

• Italian: maggiorenne (it)
• Macedonian: полнолетник (mk) (polnolétnik) m
• Portuguese: maior (pt)
• Spanish: mayor de edad (es) m

major premise — see major premise

Verb

major (third-person singular simple present majors, present participle majoring, simple past and past participle majored)

1. to concentrate on a particular area of study as a student in a college or university

   I have decided to major in mathematics.

Translations

to concentrate on a particular area of study

• Latvian: mažora

Anagrams

• joram

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Czech

Noun

major m

1. major (military)

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Estonian

Wikipedia ^et

Etymology

From German major, from Spanish, from Latin maior.

Noun

major (genitive majori, partitive majorit)

1. (military) major

Declension

Declension of major (type redel)

	singular	plural
nominative	major	majorid
genitive	majori	majorite
partitive	majorit	majoreid
illative	majorisse	majoritesse majoreisse
inessive	majoris	majorites majoreis
elative	majorist	majoritest majoreist
allative	majorile	majoritele majoreile
adessive	majoril	majoritel majoreil
ablative	majorilt	majoritelt majoreilt
translative	majoriks	majoriteks majoreiks
terminative	majorini	majoriteni
essive	majorina	majoritena
abessive	majorita	majoriteta
comitative	majoriga	majoritega

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French

Etymology

French military authorities have created in 1972 the rank of major (non-commissioned officer) which can easily be confused with the rank of major (officer) used in many countries, provocating problems in allied forces communication.

Noun

major m (plural majors)

1. major, the upper rank of French non-commissioned officers

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Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA: /maˈʒor/

Adjective

major

1. (comparative form of grande) bigger

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Latin

Adjective

mājor (comparative of māgnus)

1. Alternative form of māior.

Inflection

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	M.F.	N.		MM.FF.	NN.
nominative	mājor	mājus		mājōrēs	mājōra
genitive	mājōris	mājōris		mājōrum	mājōrum
dative	mājōrī	mājōrī		mājōribus	mājōribus
accusative	mājōrem	mājus		mājōrēs	mājōra
ablative	mājōre	mājōre		mājōribus	mājōribus
vocative	mājor	mājus		mājōrēs	mājōra

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From German Major, from Latin māior.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mǎjoːr/
• Hyphenation: ma‧jor

Noun

màjōr m (Cyrillic spelling ма̀јо̄р)

1. (military, Serbo-Croatian, Serbo-Croatian) major (rank)

Declension

    declension of major

	singular	plural
nominative	màjōr	majori
genitive	majóra	majora
dative	majoru	majorima
accusative	majora	majore
vocative	mȁjōre	majori
locative	majoru	majorima
instrumental	majorom	majorima

Synonyms

• (Serbo-Croatian): bojnik
• tisućnik

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

major c

1. a major
2. a Squadron Leader (in the British Royal Air Force)

Declension

Declension of major

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	major	majoren	majorer	majorerna
genitive	majors	majorens	majorers	majorernas