| 释义 |
▪ I. major, n.1|ˈmeɪdʒə(r)|
[a. F. major, short for sergent-major, sergeant-major, which like some other military titles originally designated a much higher grade than at present.]
1. a. In the army: An officer next below the rank of a lieutenant-colonel and above that of a captain. major of (a) brigade = brigade-major.
[1579Digges Stratiot. 105 Item, the Sergeant Maior, by his office, is to appoint euerie Captayne his place.] 1643Whitelocke Mem. 70 Major Gunter was shot dead in the place. 1647Clarendon Hist. Rebell. vii. §34 Whereof the lord Digby..colonel Wagstaffe, and major Legg, were the chief of the wounded. a1671Ld. Fairfax Mem. (1699) 88 Major Fairfax, who was Major to his regiment, had at least 30 wounds, of which he dyed at York. 1675Baxter Cath. Theol. ii. xiii. 294 Major Danvers, an Anabaptist. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Major of a Brigade, an Officer, either of Horse or Foot, who receiving Orders, and the Word from the Major General, gives them to the Major of each Regiment. 1781T. Simes Milit. Guide (ed. 3) 9 The Majors of Brigade go every day to receive the orders from the Adjutant-general. Ibid. 11 When the encampment is to be formed, the General Officers, Brigade-majors, Aid-de-camps, &c. are appointed in public orders to their several posts and stations. 1833Marryat P. Simple xx, The major commandant and the officers retired to consult. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 69 No Officer shall be promoted to the Rank of Major, until he has been six years in the Service.
b. brigade-major, fort-major, town-major, etc.: see the prefixed words.
c. An officer in the Salvation Army.
1907G. B. Shaw (title) Major Barbara. 1970C. Bramwell-Booth Catherine Booth vi. 377 The Army Mother gave colours to..Major Rose Clapham and her assistants who were to establish the work in South Africa. 1975Times 30 Apr. 9/3 Major Eva den Hartog, of the Dutch Salvation Army, has spent the last 17 years at the disaster centres of the world.
d. Major Mitchell Austral. = Leadbeater's cockatoo (leadbeater1).
1898E. E. Morris Austral Eng. 280/1 Major Mitchell, vernacular name of a species of Cockatoo, Cacatua leadbeateri... It was called after the explorer, Major (afterwards Sir Thomas) Mitchell, who was Surveyor-General of New South Wales. The cry of the bird was fancifully supposed to resemble his name. 1911C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xvii. 169 We came across a flock of ‘Major Mitchells’,..white and pink, and exceedingly pretty when they fly and show the whole expanse of their pink feathers. 1953A. Moorehead Rum Jungle iii. 40 Two of the Major Mitchells lighted on my shoulder. 1966Times 28 Mar. (Austral. Suppl.) p. xvi/5 The Major Mitchell or pink cockatoo.
e. (See quot. 1919.)
1910R. Blatchford My Life in Army xvii. 52 The ‘major’ meant well. 1919Athenæum 25 July 664/1 ‘Major’, for Sergeant-major—a polite form of address by an N.C.O. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 150 Major, the, the usual name among N.C.O.'s colloquially for the Sergeant Major.
2. A kind of wig (see quot. c 1770). Also major wig. Obs. exc. Hist.
1753Smollett Ct. Fathom (1784) 162/1 His tye-wig degenerated into a major. c1770J. Granger's Lett. (1815) 280 A full wig tied back in one curl is a Major, in two curls is a Brigadier. 1785Mackenzie Lounger No. 4 An embroidered waistcoat with very large flaps, a major wig, long ruffles nicely plaited. 1823Mirror of Lit. 12 July II. 115/1 Lander made his [the poet Thomson's] majors and bobs.
3. Angling. The name of an artificial salmon fly.
1867F. Francis Angling x. 302.
▪ II. major, a. and n.2|ˈmeɪdʒə(r)|
Also 4 maiour, 6–7 maior.
[a. L. mājor nom. sing. masc. and fem. (neut. mājus; declension stem mājōr-), used as comparative of magnus great, to the root of which it is referred by most philologists, though the phonology is not quite clear.
Cf. OF. maire, obj.-case maor, maiour, Pr. majer, maer, obj.-case major, Sp. mayor, Pg. major, mor, It. maggiore; also the learned forms F. majeur, major, used in certain specific senses, and perh. the proximate source of some of the Eng. uses below. Cf. mayor.]
A. adj.
I. = greater in certain applications. (Not followed by than.)
1. a. Used as the distinctive epithet of the greater (in various senses) of two things, species, etc., that have a common designation; also applied to those members of a class that form a subdivision on the ground of being greater than the rest; opposed to minor. Chiefly in certain special collocations which originated in med. or mod.L.; in most of these greater may be substituted, e.g. in major excommunication, orders, prophets (see those ns.). † Major Fellow (Cambridge): a senior Fellow. major epilepsy: epilepsy proper, as distinguished from the ‘petit mal’. major road, esp. in phr. major road ahead used on traffic signs (until 1967).
Much less common than the corresponding use of minor. Occasional uses (as ‘major poet’) are sometimes suggested by antithesis with the recognized collocations of minor.
a1400Stac. Rome 475 At seinte Marie þe maiour [= Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome] þer is a chirche of gret honour. 1597Skene De Verb. Sign. s.v. Homagium, [Homage] sulde be maid be the vassall being minor, or maior, to his ouer-lorde. 1660Trapp (title) A Commentary or Exposition upon The four Major Prophets. 1670Walton Lives iv. 21 He was made Minor Fellow in the year 1609... Major Fellow of the Colledge, March 15. 1615. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Orders, Sacred, or Major Orders, we have already observed, are three: viz. those of deacon, priest, and bishop. 1883–5Catholic Dict. (ed. 3) s.v. Excommunication, The major excommunication deprives of all ecclesiastical communion, and is equivalent in substance to anathema. Ibid. s.v., The superior ranks of the sacred ministry—bishops, priests, deacons, and subdeacons—are said to have major orders. Before the thirteenth century the subdiaconate was one of the minor orders. 1887Freeman Exeter iii. 63 There is not much to note in the nomenclature of these churches... Saint Mary Major..takes also the English shape of St. Mary More. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 846 An increased circulation in the cutaneous area and sweating, as we see in the major epilepsy. 1901Scotsman 9 Sept. 7/1 Miller made a declaration before the sheriff, but will probably have to make another on the major charge of causing Durham's death. 1930Highway Code 7 It is the duty of a driver on a minor road when approaching a major road to go dead slow. 1937R. F. Broad Motor Driving made Easy (ed. 6) v. 61 The Halt at Major Road Ahead sign..enforces a definite standstill upon road users. 1950N.Y. Times 20 Apr. 1/5 Railroad firemen and engineers called a strike against four major roads for Wednesday. 1967L. Meynell Mauve Front Door xi. 137 Sidney Street runs into Falloden Street at right angles; there isn't any sort of traffic sign (‘Halt’ ‘Major Road Ahead’ or anything like that). 1968Highway Code 14 You must..be ready to stop to let traffic on the major road go by first. 1972A. Draper Death Penalty v. 37 Hudson drove the car at full speed, not even bothering to halt at the major road ahead.
b. Prosody. Used to distinguish the longer of two types of verse bearing a common name.
1883G. A. Simcox Hist. Lat. Lit. II. 356 St. Agnes, whose legend is given in very spirited major alcaics.
c. Rugby Football. major point: a goal (opposed to minor point, i.e. a try).
1896Field 4 Jan. 22/2 McIlwaine registered a try and Boas bringing off the major point, Belfast left off winners by a goal and a try to a goal.
d. In Bridge. major suit: spades or hearts (tricks taken by the declarer when these are trumps score more points than when clubs or diamonds are trumps). Also ellipt.
1916R. F. Foster Auction Bridge for All vii. 27 High cards, two sure tricks, are just as necessary in the major suits as in the minor suits. 1927M. C. Work Contract Bridge ii. 11 Many find it easier to remember 20 for Minors, 30 for Majors and 35 for No Trump. 1958Listener 9 Oct. 572/3 It would give an exaggerated picture to reverse by following One Diamond with Two of a major. 1973Country Life 13 Dec. 2048/1 Many pairs reached Six Diamonds, which is an inferior contract... It scores less than the major suit slam. 1974Times 27 Apr. 10/3 After opening a strong No Trump without a four-card major, I rarely know how much strength to read into my partner's second response.
e. N. Amer. major league, the highest division of teams in baseball, etc. Also attrib.
1942Sun (Baltimore) 3 Apr. 18/6 The pitching machine now used in several major league training camps. 1947Partisan Rev. XIV. 258 He concealed his fear most of all from himself by means of his devotion to professional sports, major league baseball especially. 1963C. Anderson Young Sportsman's Guide Baseball ii. 17 A vast number of the current major league players had participated in the American Legion sponsored Leagues. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 35 (Advt.), Start with the finest beaches in Florida, add great fishing,..major league baseball, greyhound and horse racing. 1971H. Seymour Baseball II. p. vi, I..scouted unofficially..for two major⁓league clubs.
2. Logic. major term: the term which enters into the predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism. major premiss, major proposition: that premiss of a syllogism that contains the major term.
a1533Frith Wks. 147/1 Now of this maior or first proposition thus vnderstand, doth the conclusion folowe directly. 1661Cowley Verses & Ess., Cromwell (1669) 66 Your last argument is such (when reduced to Syllogism) that the Major Proposition of it would make strange work in the World if it were received for truth. 1860Abp. Thomson Laws Th. §93. 164 That premiss in which the predicate (major term) is compared with the middle, was formerly called the Major premiss. 1871Morley Crit. Misc. Ser. i. Carlyle (1878) 168 A man of genius is at liberty to assume all his major premisses.
3. Math. and Astron.
†a. (See quot. 1571.) Obs.
b. major axis: the axis (of a conic section) which passes through the foci; also called transverse axis. † major circle = great circle (see circle 2).
1571Digges Pantom. iv. X iv b, If the side of Icosaedron be a line rationall, the dimetient of the comprehending sphere shalbe an irrationall line called Maior. Ibid., The semi-dimetiente of that circle wheron the body is framed will be an irrationall, called of Euclide Maior. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. ii. 62 The true meridian is a major circle passing through the poles of the world, and the Zenith or Vortex of any place, exactly dividing the East from the West. 1854Moseley Astron. lxxxviii. (ed. 4) 231 The larger axis of the ellipse, which is the orbit of a planet, being called its axis major. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xi. 15 The difference between major and minor axis being ·012 of an inch. 1885C. Leudesdorf Cremona's Proj. Geom. 275 The polar reciprocal of an ellipse (hyperbola) with respect to a circle having its centre at a focus and its radius equal to half the minor (conjugate) axis is the circle described on the major (transverse) axis as diameter.
4. Mus.
a. Applied to intervals greater by a chromatic semitone than those called minor, i.e. to the normal or perfect intervals; as major third, major sixth, major seventh (and, in occasional recent use, major fourth and major fifth, commonly called perfect fourth and fifth). Hence also applied to the note distant by a major interval from a given note. Also, in acoustical theory, applied to the larger of two intervals differing by a minute quantity, as major tone (vibration-ratio 9/8, being greater by a comma than the minor tone, 10/9).
b. Applied to a common chord or triad containing a major third between the root and the second note; hence to a cadence ending on such a chord.
c. Denoting those keys, or that mode, in which the scale has a major third (and also a major sixth or seventh). (In naming a key, major follows the letter, as C major.)
1694W. Holder Harmony (1731) 49 If A to B be as 5 to 4, they sound a Ditone, or Third Major. Ibid. 50, 4/5 sound a Third Major,..3/5 a Sixth Major. Ibid. 114 In Diatonic Music there is but one sort of Hemitone..call'd Hemitone Major, whose Ration is 16 to 15... There are two sorts of Tones; viz. Major, and Minor. Ibid. 130 Seventh Major, 15 to 8. a1734North Lives (1742) 298 He makes great Ado about dividing Tones Major, Tones Minor, Dieses and Commas, with the Quantities of them. 1806J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. ii. i. 98 The Major Second..does not consist of two equal parts. 1811Busby Dict. Mus. s.v. Key, The natural keys of C major and A minor. 1848Rimbault First Bk. Piano. 37 Every Major Key has its relative Minor; that is to say, a piece with the same signature may be written either in a Major or a Minor mode, according to the position of the Key-note. 1866Engel Nat. Mus. ii. 25 The major and minor scales. 1887Browning Parleyings, C. Avison xiii, Blare it forth, bold C major! 1898Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v. Interval, The pertinacity with which professors adhere to the expression perfect fifth and perfect fourth, and abhor the term major fifth and major fourth.
5. That constitutes the majority or larger part; now only with part, portion, or other ns. of like meaning. Formerly (rare) in predicative use: † Preponderating in quantity.
1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. iv. xiii. §9 When they are the major part of a general assembly. 1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. iii, The more generall, or maior part of opinion goes with the face, and (simply) respects nothing else. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 85 The House to debate the doubte,..and, if the major part doubte, yt may be re-comitted. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 118 For the Major part it is barren. 1649N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xlvii. (1739) 79 That they all had votes, and that the major number concluded the matter. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 26 The major part of the City lies between two Hills. 1743Lond. & Country Brew. iii. (ed. 2) 243 Not only the Fæces, but the whole Body of the Drink will consequently oppose the Remedy, and if they be Major, the Attempt will prove abortive. 1774T. Hutchinson Diary 3 Oct. (1884) I. 254 A person had the major vote for Alderman... Another person..had the minor vote in the election. 1790Umfreville Hudson's Bay 16 After wandering about..for the major part of the day. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India I. v. ii. 374 The major party deemed it an important article of the duty of the Supreme Council. 1866Crump Banking i. 25 It will be found, in by far the major part of these failures.
†6. Used for: Paramount to all other claims.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. i. 49 My maior vow lyes heere; this Ile obay.
7. Following the n. qualified.
a. In certain combinations adopted from Fr., as in quart major, quint major, tierce major: see quart n.3, quint n.2, tierce, and in military titles, as drum-major, sergeant-major, surgeon-major. So (jocularly) poet-major.
b. bob major (Bell-ringing): see bob n.5
c. In boys' schools, appended to a surname to distinguish the elder (or the one who has been longest in the school) of two namesakes.
1616B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. i. i, One is a Rimer sir, o' your owne batch, your owne leuin; but doth think himselfe Poet-maior, o' the towne. 1866Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Mar. 146 Brown major had a trick of bringing up unpleasant topics.
II.
8. a. Of full age; out of (one's) minority.
1646Howell Lewis XIII 27 [It] was an open..attempt upon his authoritie now that he is declar'd Major. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. II, Wks. (1711) 21 A king of France is declared to be of full years and major the fourteenth of his age. 1745De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. ii. 12 At which time I arrived to Man's estate, and became Major. 1787C. Smith Rom. Real Life I. 162 The Chevalier de Villiers being major, might marry Julie de Lalande. 1840Thackeray Yellowplush Mem., Mr. Deuceace at Paris viii, We are both major, you know; so that the ceremony of a guardian's consent is unnecessary. 1892Gillespie Bar's Priv. Intern. Law (ed. 2) 312 A Dutch minor, who is by the law of Belgium major, cannot dispose of his real property in Belgium without [etc.].
b. fig. in Sc. Proverb.
1808Forsyth Beauties Scotl. V. 220 The double stone dike or wall..makes at once a complete fence, or, as is sometimes said, ‘it is major the day it is born’.
B. n.
1. In occasional uses: A ‘major’ individual of a specified class. Cf. A. 1.
1626Bacon Sylva §839 marg., Experiment Solitary, touching Alterations, which may be called Maiors. 1660Trial Regic. 12 If He [the King] be Supreme, there is neither Major, nor Superior. 1897Daily News 20 Mar. 5/2 The minors [sc. poets], and many who esteem themselves majors, are constantly on offer.
2. Logic. The major premiss in a syllogism.
1530Palsgr. 467/1 Of that major graunted he brought in foure or fyve conclusions. 1532More Answ. Frith Wks. 840/2 In this argument hee begynneth with (shoulde) in the maior, and than in the minor and the conclusion turneth into (can). 1634Canne Necess. Separ. 91, I need not here take D. Laitons compasse, to fetch the Bishops Major, and the Separatists minor, to make vp an entire Syllogisme of separation. 1696Vanbrugh Relapse v. iii, Thou art out in thy logic. Thy major is true, but thy minor is false. 1717Prior Alma iii. 78 Can syllogism set things right? No: majors soon with minors fight. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 629 They cared little whether their major agreed with their conclusion.
3. Mus. Short for major key, mode, etc.: see A. 4.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 547 note, Such another piece [is]..upon C, with sol, ut, and its major. 1818Busby Gram. Mus. 360 The transition..from any Minor key to its relative Major. Ibid. 363 A Minor key [may be said to be related] to the same key in the Major.
4. One who has ‘come of age’.
1616J. Castle in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) I. 431 Every man that is once knighted is ipso-facto made a major, and sui juris. 1754J. Shebbeare Matrimony (1766) II. 280 In France..the Major, whether Man or Woman, who marries a Minor, is punished with Death. a1845Hood Sniffing a Birthday vii, I'm free to give my I O U, Sign, draw, accept, as majors do.
5. As an official title. (Cf. major n.1)
‖a. The (Latin) designation of the superior in certain brotherhoods.
b. The designation of some university official at Oxford. Obs. exc. Hist.
a.1882–3Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. II. 1025 Even the smaller ones [brotherhoods] had their superior or major.
b.1726Amherst Terræ Fil. No. 10. 51 Having saunter'd a pretty while along the quadrangle, impatient of the lecturer's delay, I ask'd the major (who is an officer belonging to the schools) whether it was usual now and then to slip a lecture or so.
6. In some universities, a subject to which special attention is given during a certain period of study. Also, this subject seen as a qualification. Also, a student thus specializing. orig. U.S.
1890in T. W. Goodspeed Hist. Univ. Chicago (1916) 142 A subject taken as a major requires eight or ten hours classroom work or lecture work a week. 1907Columbia Univ. Catal. Mar., Open only to students taking a major in the Department of English. 1926[see elective n. 2]. 1948Democrat 5 Aug. 1/7 Mr. Gray will receive the Bachelor of Science degree with a major in business administration. 1949Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Okla.) 25 Jan. 6/6 McLaurin is a Negro education major at the University of Oklahoma who is receiving instruction in a separate class⁓room. 1953Manch. Guardian Weekly 24 Dec. 14/3 Courses for the ‘English major’. These are courses in phases of English literature designed largely..for those who are ‘majoring’ in English. 1959Times 8 Sept. 3/2 (Advt.), Royal Australian Air Force. Education Officers required with Majors in Maths or Physics. 1961New Statesman 3 Mar. 338 In English Studies the ‘major’ could be English literature. 1964L. Nkosi Rhythm of Violence 11. ii. 38 She has been campaigning among Afrikaner students... Sarie is a Social Science major! 1972Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 91 Three female upperclass psychology majors served as experimenters. 1972N.Y. Times 3 Nov. 22/4 The regulars are unhappy..that the McGovern organization has selected as its two district coordinators a shaggy-headed political-science major at Brooklyn College who sometimes tours the neighborhood in dungarees, [etc.]. 1973Black World Mar. 62 He is presently a theater-arts major at Los Angeles Community College.
7. Sport. ellipt. for major penalty, score, etc.
1951Football Record (Melbourne) 8 Sept. 18 They opened with four behinds, and then rattled on sixteen majors. 1962Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard 28 Dec. 9/7 Kingston took 21 penalties and Gananoque sat out 14 sentences, including a misconduct to James McGlade for incurring his second major of the game. 1969Sun-Herald (Sydney) 13 July 48/2 Goals by Brian Douge and Ray Wilson seemed to put the seal on the match for Hawthorn until a last-minute burst by the Dons took them to within a straight goal, with two majors by Blethyn. 1970Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 17/5 Peter Murray of Jarvis raced 23 yards for a third-quarter major, then quarter⁓back Mike Chrzan sneaked from three yards in the fourth, Lang converting. 1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 33/3 Parkdale quarterback Rich Chudziak tossed a 38-yard pass to Wally Lytwynec, who ran 30 yards for the major.
8. A major company, organization, etc.
1968Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Apr., Says a Columbia Pictures Corp. screen writer: ‘You can be sure what Russ is doing today will be done by the majors tomorrow.’ 1968Blues Unlimited Sept. 29 Apart from Goldstar, the major outputs were from the majors in Hollywood. 1973Time 25 June 85/2 In some cases, asserted his Connecticut counter-part, Robert Killian, ‘the majors are taking over the choice locations, putting up giant 20-pump stations with 24-hr. service and are replacing the small dealers’. 1974ITV 1974 10/2 The [Independent Television] Authority..created a system made up of several large so-called ‘network companies’ (sometimes also called the ‘majors’) and a number of smaller ‘regional companies’ (sometimes called the ‘minors’)... The five major companies..are the main providers of network programmes to be used by the whole service. 1974Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald 24 Apr. A2/2 Of the four majors reporting so far, only Exxon showed a decline from the fourth-quarter profits, while Amoco's net rose 81 per cent.
▪ III. major, v. dial.|ˈmeɪdʒə(r)|
[f. major n.1]
1. intr. To walk with an important air; to strut. Also with about, up and down.
1814Scott Wav. xlii, Mr. Waverley's wearied wi' majoring yonder afore the muckle pier-glass. 1822― Pirate xxx, She..majors up and down my house as if she was mistress of it. 1832― St. Ronan's xx, Can it be for the puir body M'Durk's health to major about [1824 to gang about] in the tartans like a tobacconist's sign in a frosty morning? 1892Monthly Packet May 548 The African dove..goes ‘majoring’ about to very lively tunes of its own.
2. trans. To bully, domineer over.
1829Examiner 17/1 In majoring, hectoring, and bullying subalterns, he will be found peremptory enough.
3. intr. Of a university student: to take, or qualify in, a major course of study. Also transf. orig. U.S.
1924P. Marks Plastic Age xvii. 185 Having decided to major in English, he found that he was required to take a composition course the second half of his sophomore year. 1927Brit. Weekly 1 Sept. 470/2 It is a thesis for the Th.D. degree, for which he has already stood the examination, ‘Majoring’ in Greek New Testament at Louisville. 1929Publishers' Weekly 20 July 252 Bulbous-headed adolescents who have majored in English descend in shoals. 1955W. Gaddis Recognitions 1. i. 7 As a youth in a New England college he had..majored in classical poetry. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Sept. 502/2 He majored in forgery and illegal entry inside several specially recommended prisons. 1965Listener 25 Feb. 290/2 A student who in the School of Social Studies ‘majors’—Sussex seems to revel in this transatlantic noun-verb—in history also reads various ‘contextual’ subjects. 1971Progress (Cape Town) May 1/2 He majored in Afrikaans at Witwatersrand University. 1972Daily Tel. 12 June 21/2, I am studying A levels in geography, English and art, with a view to majoring in geography. 1973Amer. N. & Q. 83/1 For both B.A. and M.A., Eliot majored in literature.
▪ IV. major, -al(i)ty
obs. ff. mayor, mayoralty. |