majority

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /məd͡ʒɒɹɪti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /məˈd͡ʒɑɹɪti/, /məˈd͡ʒɔɹɪti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒɹɪti

Etymology

From Middle French majorité.

Noun

majority (plural majorities)

1. More than half (50%) of some group

   The majority agreed that the new proposal was the best.

   Those opposing the building plans were in the majority, so the building project was canceled.

   • 1920, Champ Clark, Democratic Achievement:

     But in 1912 the American people gave the Democrats another opportunity, and under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson we swept the country from sea to sea. At the end of that historic contest we had the Presidency, the Senate by a working majority, and the House by an overwhelming majority.

2. The difference between the winning vote and the rest of the votes

   The winner with 53% had a 6% majority over the loser with 47%.

3. (dated) Legal adulthood

   By the time I reached my majority, I had already been around the world twice.

4. (Britain) The office held by a member of the armed forces in the rank of major

   On receiving the news of his promotion, Charles Snodgrass said he was delighted to be entering his majority.

5. ancestors; ancestry.
   • Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errors.

     Of evil parents an evil generation, a posterity not unlike their majority; of mischievous progenitors, a venomous and destructive progeny.

Usage notes

• Majority in the sense of "more than half" is used with countable nouns only; for example, "The majority of the members of the committee were in favour of the motion." While common in colloquial speech, it is often considered incorrect to use majority with uncountable nouns, as in "The majority of the time was wasted." In the latter case, it is preferable to use expressions such as "the larger part of" or "most of" instead of the "the majority of."

Antonyms

• (more than half): minority

Hyponyms

• absolute majority
• double majority
• silent majority
• simple majority
• supermajority

 

Derived terms

• Muslim-majority
• supermajority

Related terms

• by a majority
• dictatorship of the majority
• majority leader
• majority rule
• tyranny of the majority

 

Related terms

• major
• plurality

See also

• most

Translations

more than half

• Arabic: غَالِبِيَّة‎ f (ḡālibiyya), أَغْلَبِيّة‎ f (ʾaḡlabiyya), أَكْثَرِيَّة‎ f (ʾakṯariyya)
• Armenian: մեծամասնություն (hy) (mecamasnutʿyun)
• Azerbaijani: əksəriyyət, çoxluq (az)
• Bashkir: күпселек (küpselek)
• Belarusian: бо́льшасць f (bólʹšascʹ)
• Bulgarian: мнозинство n (mnozinstvo)
• Catalan: majoria (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 多數 (zh), 多数 (zh) (duōshù)

• Czech: většina (cs) f
• Danish: flertal (da) n
• Dutch: meerderheid (nl) f, merendeel (nl) n
• Esperanto: plimulto, plejparto
• Estonian: enamus
• Finnish: enemmistö (fi), yksinkertainen enemmistö
• French: majorité (fr) f
• Galician: maioría f
• Georgian: უმრავლესობა (umravlesoba)
• German: Mehrheit (de) f, Majorität (de) f
• Greek: πλειονότητα (el) f (pleionótita), πλειοψηφία (el) f (pleiopsifía)
• Hungarian: többség (hu)
• Ido: majoritato (io)
• Italian: maggioranza (it) f
• Japanese: 多数 (ja) (たすう, tasū)
• Kazakh: көпшілік (kk) (köpşilik)
• Korean: 다수 (ko) (dasu)
• Kyrgyz: көпчүлүк (ky) (köpçülük)
• Latin: majōritās f, plēritās f

• Macedonian: мнозинство n (mnozinstvo)
• Maori: nuinga
• Navajo: agháago áníidlą́ą́ʼ
• Norman: mâjorité f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: majoritet (no) m, flertall (no) n

  Nynorsk: majoritet m, fleirtal n

• Persian: اکثریت‎ (fa) (aksariyat), اکثریت ساده‎ (aksariyat-e sâde)
• Polish: większość (pl) f
• Portuguese: maioria (pt) f
• Romanian: majoritate (ro) f
• Russian: большинство́ (ru) n (bolʹšinstvó)
• Scottish Gaelic: mòr-chuid f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: већина f

  Roman: većina (sh) f

• Slovak: väčšina f
• Slovene: večina f
• Spanish: mayoría (es) f
• Swedish: majoritet (sv) c
• Tajik: аксарият (tg) (aksariyat)
• Turkish: çoğunluk (tr), ekseriyet (tr)
• Turkmen: köplük, köpçülik
• Ukrainian: бі́льшість (uk) f (bílʹšistʹ)
• Uzbek: aksariyat (uz)
• Vietnamese: đa số (vi), phần đông (vi)
• Yiddish: מערהייט‎ f (merheyt)

difference between the winning vote and the rest of the votes

• Catalan: majoria (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 公決 (zh), 公决 (zh) (gōngjué)

• Finnish: enemmistö (fi)
• Galician: maioría f
• Greek: πλειοψηφία (el) f (pleiopsifía)

• Hungarian: többség (hu)
• Macedonian: мнозинство n (mnozinstvo)
• Norwegian: majoritet (no) m, seiersmargin m
• Portuguese: maioria (pt) f
• Scottish Gaelic: mòr-chuid f

legal adulthood

• Catalan: majoria d'edat f
• Danish: myndighedsalder (da) c
• Finnish: täysi-ikäisyys (fi)
• French: majorité (fr)
• German: Erwachsenenalter n
• Greek: ενηλικιότητα (el) f (enilikiótita)
• Hungarian: nagykorúság (hu)
• Italian: maggiore età

• Macedonian: полноле́тство n (polnolétstvo), полноле́тност f (polnolétnost)
• Norman: mâjorité f
• Norwegian: myndighetsalder (no) m
• Portuguese: maioridade (pt) f
• Romanian: majorat (ro) n
• Spanish: mayoría de edad f
• Thai: นิติภาวะ (th) (ní-dtì-paa-wá)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hindi: ^{(please verify)} अधिकांश (hi) (adhikānś)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} mayoritas (id)

• Malay: ^{(please verify)} majoriti