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majority

 - 4 dictionary results

ma⋅jor⋅i⋅ty

  [muh-jawr-i-tee, -jor-]
Use majority in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ties.
1. the greater part or number; the number larger than half the total (opposed to minority ): the majority of the population.
2. a number of voters or votes, jurors, or others in agreement, constituting more than half of the total number.
3. the amount by which the greater number, as of votes, surpasses the remainder (distinguished from plurality ).
4. the party or faction with the majority vote: The Democratic party is the majority.
5. the state or time of being of full legal age: to attain one's majority.
6. the military rank or office of a major.
—Idiom
7. join the majority or the great majority, to die.
Origin:
1545–55; < ML majōritās. See major, -ity

Synonyms:
3. Majority, plurality, in the context of an election, poll, or other voting situation resulting in a statistically based statement, both denote an amount or number larger than some other. In situations in which only two candidates, options, or positions are concerned, the terms are interchangeable, though majority is by far the more commonly used: She beat her opponent by a large majority. The proposal received a large plurality of “Yes” votes. When three or more choices are available, however, a distinction is made between majority and plurality. A majority, then, consists of more than one-half of all the votes cast, while a plurality is merely the number of votes one candidate receives in excess of the votes for the candidate with the next largest number. Thus, in an election in which three candidates receive respectively 500, 300, and 200 votes, the first candidate has a plurality of 200 votes, but not a majority of all the votes cast. If the three candidates receive 600, 300, and 100 votes, the first has a majority of 100 votes (that is 100 votes more than one-half the total of 1000 cast) and a plurality of 300 votes over the nearest opponent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To majority
ma·jor·i·ty   (mə-jôr'ĭ-tē, -jŏr'-)   
n.   pl. ma·jor·i·ties

  1. The greater number or part; a number more than half of the total.

  2. The amount by which the greater number of votes cast, as in an election, exceeds the total number of remaining votes.

  3. The political party, group, or faction having the most power by virtue of its larger representation or electoral strength.

  4. Law The status of having reached full legal age, with attendant rights and responsibilities.

  5. The military rank, commission, or office of a major.

  6. Obsolete The fact or state of being greater; superiority.


[French majorité, from Medieval Latin māiōritās, from Latin māior, greater; see meg- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: When majority refers to a particular number of votes, it takes a singular verb: Her majority was five votes. His majority has been growing by 5 percent every year. When it refers to a group of persons or things that are in the majority, it may take either a singular or plural verb, depending on whether the group is considered as a whole or as a set of people considered individually. So we say The majority elects (not elect) the candidate it wants (not they want), since the election is accomplished by the group as a whole; but The majority of the voters live (not lives) in the city, since living in the city is something that each voter does individually. · Majority is often preceded by great (but not by greater) in expressing emphatically the sense of "most of": The great majority approved. The phrase greater majority is appropriate only when considering two majorities: He won by a greater majority in this election than in the last.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

majority 
1552, "condition of being greater, superiority," from M.Fr. majorité, from M.L. majoritatem (nom. majoritas) "majority," from L. major "greater" (see major). Sense of "state of being of full age" is attested from c.1565; meaning "greater number or part" (of votes, etc.) first recorded 1691.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: ma·jor·i·ty
Pronunciation: m&-'jor-&-tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ties
1 a : LEGAL AGE b : the status of one who has reached legal age
2 a : a number or quantity greater than half of a total —compare PLURALITY b : the excess of a majority over the remainder of the total
3 a : the group or political party whose votes predominate b : the judges voting in a particular case who together determine the prevailing decision —see also majority opinion at OPINION —compare DISSENT 3 —majority adjective
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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