Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ma·jor       (mā'jər)  Pronunciation Key  adj.   Greater than others in importance or rank: a major artist. Great in scope or effect: a major improvement. Great in number, size, or extent: the major portion of the population. Requiring great attention or concern; very serious: a major illness. Law Having attained full legal age. Of or relating to the field of academic study in which a student specializes. Music Designating a scale or mode having half steps between the third and fourth and the seventh and eighth degrees. Equivalent to the distance between the tonic note and the second or third or sixth or seventh degrees of a major scale or mode: a major interval. Based on a major scale: a major key. n.   Abbr. MAJ or Maj or Maj. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above captain and below lieutenant colonel. One who holds this rank. A field of study chosen as an academic specialty. A student specializing in such studies: a linguistics major. A major premise. A major term. A major scale, key, interval, or mode. A chord containing a major third between the first and second notes and a minor third between the second and third notes. One that is superior in rank, importance, or ability: an oil-producing country considered as one of the majors. Law One who has reached full legal age. A field of study chosen as an academic specialty. A student specializing in such studies: a linguistics major. A major premise. A major term. A major scale, key, interval, or mode. A chord containing a major third between the first and second notes and a minor third between the second and third notes. Logic A major premise. A major term. A major scale, key, interval, or mode. A chord containing a major third between the first and second notes and a minor third between the second and third notes. Music A major scale, key, interval, or mode. A chord containing a major third between the first and second notes and a minor third between the second and third notes. majors Sports The major leagues. intr.v.   ma·jored, ma·jor·ing, ma·jors To pursue academic studies in a major: majoring in mathematics. [Middle English majour, from Latin māior; see meg- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ma·jor       (mā'jər)  Pronunciation Key  British banker and conservative politician who served as prime minister from 1990 to 1997. During his administration he advocated privatization, anti-inflationary budget discipline, and negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
major  (adj.)

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
major  (n.)

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

major
adjective
1.	of greater importance or stature or rank; "a major artist"; "a major role"; "major highways" [ant: minor]
2.	greater in scope or effect; "a major contribution"; "a major improvement"; "a major break with tradition"; "a major misunderstanding" [ant: minor]
3.	greater in number or size or amount; "a major portion (a majority) of the population"; "Ursa Major"; "a major portion of the winnings" [ant: minor]
4.	of the field of academic study in which one concentrates or specializes; "his major field was mathematics" [ant: minor]
5.	of a scale or mode; "major scales"; "the key of D major" [ant: minor]
6.	of greater seriousness or danger; "a major earthquake"; "a major hurricane"; "a major illness" [ant: minor]
7.	of full legal age [ant: minor]
8.	of the elder of two boys with the same family name; "Jones major"
noun
1.	a commissioned military officer in the United States Army or Air Force or Marines; below lieutenant colonel and above captain
2.	British statesman who was prime minister from 1990 until 1997 (born in 1943)
3.	a university student who is studying a particular field as the principal subject; "she is a linguistics major"
4.	the principal field of study of a student at a university; "her major is linguistics"
verb
1.	have as one's principal field of study; "She is majoring in linguistics"

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: ma·jor
Function: noun
: a person who has attained majority —compare MINOR

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Major County, OK (county, FIPS 93) Location: 36.31131 N, 98.54189 W
Population (1990): 8055 (3855 housing units)
Area: 2478.2 sq km (land), 2.9 sq km (water)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Major

Ma"jor\, [L. major, compar. of magnus great: cf. F. majeur. Cf. Master, Mayor, Magnitude, More, a.]

1. Greater in number, quantity, or extent; as, the major part of the assembly; the major part of the revenue; the major part of the territory.

2. Of greater dignity; more important. --Shak.

3. Of full legal age. [Obs.]

4. (Mus.) Greater by a semitone, either in interval or in difference of pitch from another tone.

Major axis (Geom.), the greater axis. See Focus, n., 2.

Major key (Mus.), a key in which one and two, two and three, four and five, five and six and seven, make major seconds, and three and four, and seven and eight, make minor seconds.

Major offense (Law), an offense of a greater degree which contains a lesser offense, as murder and robbery include assault.

Major premise (Logic), that premise of a syllogism which contains the major term.

Major scale (Mus.), the natural diatonic scale, which has semitones between the third and fourth, and seventh and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees; the scale of the major mode, of which the third is major. See Scale, and Diatonic.

Major second (Mus.), a second between whose tones is a difference in pitch of a step.

Major sixth (Mus.), a sixth of four steps and a half step. In major keys the third and sixth from the key tone are major. Major keys and intervals, as distinguished from minors, are more cheerful.

Major term (Logic), that term of a syllogism which forms the predicate of the conclusion.

Major third (Mus.), a third of two steps.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Major

Ma"jor\, n. [F. major. See Major, a.]

1. (Mil.) An officer next in rank above a captain and next below a lieutenant colonel; the lowest field officer.

2. (Law) A person of full age.

3. (Logic) That premise which contains the major term. It its the first proposition of a regular syllogism; as: No unholy person is qualified for happiness in heaven [the major]. Every man in his natural state is unholy [minor]. Therefore, no man in his natural state is qualified for happiness in heaven [conclusion or inference].

Note: In hypothetical syllogisms, the hypothetical premise is called the major.

4. [LL. See Major.] A mayor. [Obs.] --Bacon.