majoradj.n.¹

Brit.

/ˈmeɪdʒə/, U.S.

/ˈmeɪdʒər/

Forms: Middle English–1500s maiour, Middle English–1600s maior, Middle English– major, 1500s mayonr (transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 maior, pre-1700 maiour, pre-1700 majoer, pre-1700 majore.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin maior, magnus.

Etymology: Ultimately < classical Latin maior greater, comparative of magnus great (see magni- comb. form), formed from the same base as magnus and the superlative maximus (see maximum n.). Many English uses (see especially notes below) are probably after the classical Latin word's reflex Middle French, French majeur , earlier (in Old French, Middle French) maieur , maior , maiour , originally object-case forms (perhaps arising as learned variants of maor , maour ) corresponding to subject case maire (from 1080 in sense A. 1a). Compare Old Occitan majer , major (11th cent.), Spanish mayor (1207), Portuguese maior (11th cent.), Italian maggiore (13th cent.); also force majeure n., maire n.¹, mayor n.With major part (see sense A. 3) compare classical Latin maior pars , Old French la maire partie (13th cent.), Middle French, French la majeur partie (1564). With use to designate or denote a person of full age (see senses A. 4 and B. 5) compare post-classical Latin maior (from 2nd or 3rd cent. in legal texts, as adjective and noun), Middle French, French majeur (1549 as adjective and noun). With use in Euclidean mathematics to designate an irrational line (see sense A. 6) compare post-classical Latin linea maior (1509). With use in musical terminology (see sense A. 7) compare post-classical Latin major , in musical senses from 11th cent. in British sources, translated before 17th cent. as greater ; Middle French majeur , in musical terminology from late 14th cent.; French tierce majeur major third (1633). In medical use (see sense A. 10) after scientific Latin epilepsia major (in 19th-cent. medical works), probably itself after French grand mal grand mal n. In use in Logic (see sense B. 1) after post-classical Latin major (from a1225 in British sources, in Grosseteste, Bacon, Ockham, Wyclif, etc.) and Middle French majour (c1354), Middle French, French majeure (from the 14th cent.). In ecclesiastical use, with major orders (see quot. 1728 at sense A. 1a) compare French ordres majeurs (1701); with major excommunication (see quot. 1884¹ at sense A. 1a) compare French excommunication maieure (1636). With sense B. 7a compare post-classical Latin maior (5th cent.), maior monasterii (5th cent.).

A. adj.

I. Greater in size, importance, etc.

a. Designating the greater (in various senses) or relatively greater of or of two things, classes, etc., that have a common designation (opposed to minor). Also: unusually important, serious, or significant; main, chief, principal, leading.In original sense much less common than the corresponding use of minor adj. Now frequently used where a comparative is not really implied.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being better or superior > [adjective] > of two

morelOE

majorc1390

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > [adjective] > major or minor (of a class)

minor1551

major1660

c1390 (?a1300) Stations of Rome (Vernon) (1867) i. l. 475 (MED) At seinte Marie þe maiour [= Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome] þer is a chirche of gret honour.

c1460 Ipomedon (Longleat) (1889) 350 There was comen into Calabre a giaunt of lude maior, that hight Leonyn.

a1500 Alexander-Cassamus (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Munich) (1911) 380 Tapytes of selk, wrout yn lude maiour.

?1503–5 H. Watson tr. Valentine & Orson (1937) 267.16 Nowe you muste go towarde Ynde the mayonr [read mayour].

1597 J. Skene De Verborum Significatione at Homagium [Homage] sulde be maid be the vassall being minor, or maior, to his ouer-lorde.

1623 B. Jonson Time Vindicated 121 The vnletter'd Clarke! maior and minor Poet!

1660 J. Trapp (title) A commentary or exposition upon the four major prophets.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Orders Sacred, or Major Orders, we have already observ'd, are three; viz. those of Deacon, Priest, and Bishop.

1807 T. Jefferson Let. 20 June in Writings (1984) 1180 Would the Judge abandon major duties to perform lesser ones?

a1854 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. (1855) xii. 405 The letters of Lord Chesterfield make a book of the minor moralities, and the major immoralities of life.

1881 A. Herschel in Nature No. 622. 508 I have here ventured to disown, and to disclaim for myself some of the major accomplishments of meteor-spectroscopy.

1884 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. 359/2 Excommunication The major excommunication deprives of all ecclesiastical communion, and is equivalent in substance to anathema.

1884 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. 541/1 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.

1887 E. A. Freeman 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.

1901 Scotsman 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.

1919 G. B. Shaw Heartbreak House Pref. in Heartbreak House, Great Catherine, & Playlets of War p. xiv Blake and the other major poets.

1934 Sun (Baltimore) 20 Aug. 2/3 A tiny metal mirror..was presented..as..the solution of one of television's major problems.

1964 E. Huxley Back Street New Worlds xv. 150 We've started on the process of digesting our minorities not without hiccoughs and rumbles, but with no major upset.

1966 Listener 3 Feb. 156/2 This is where one begins to get at the real question of the inner meaning of this development. These are very subtle, very major changes.

1975 Daily Tel. 27 Nov. 27/2 (advt.) This French subsidiary of a major international company.

1986 M. Foot Loyalists & Loners 53 Page after page I read, and often..the minor events crowd out the major ones.

b. colloquial (originally U.S.). Frequently as an intensifier: bad, serious; big, great; superlative, absolute. Cf. awful adj. 1b, terrible adj. 2a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective]

hardOE

heavyc1000

highOE

highlyOE

stourc1275

largec1330

intensec1400

violent1430

profoundc1450

vehementc1485

intensive1526

advanceda1533

vengeable1532

Herculean1602

well-advanced1602

deep1605

dense1732

abysmal1817

intensitive1835

holy1837

high-level1860

major1942

1942 W. Stevens Notes toward Supreme Fiction 40 Out of nothing to have come on major weather.

1975 in J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1997) II. 502/1 You are a major loon!

1982 in J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1997) II. 502/1 I kissed Tommy off in a major way.

1987 D. Koontz Darkfall p. iv It was grody, creepy, but it wasn't big enough to bite her head off or anything major like that.

1988 J. McInerney Story of my Life vii. 121 Emile's a total creep and major reptile anyway.

1991 Sports Illustr. 14 Oct. 99/1 We are talking major sucking up.

1994 City Life (Manchester) 28 Aug.–8 Sept. 17/1 Logic and gravity are of no consequence to the sagging lines..to be worn with..major boots.

2. As postmodifier.

a. [The senses of some of the compounds below have probably been influenced by major n.²] Designating someone or something greater or more senior within a given group. In certain compounds adopted from French, as in quart (also quint, tierce) major: see quart n.⁴, quint n.², tierce n.¹; in military titles, as drum major n., sergeant-major n.; and in some ad hoc formations, as inquisitor-major, (humorously) poet-major. Also in bob major: see bob n.⁵

ΚΠ

1540 T. Wyatt Let. 7 Jan. (1963) iv. 126 I woll wryte to the Cardinal of Toledo, that is inquisitor maior, that I may be informid.

?1593 H. Chettle Kind-harts Dreame sig. C2 He whipt her with a foxes taille, Barnes minor, and he whipt her with a foxes taille, Barnes maior.

1616 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor (rev. ed.) i. ii, in Wks. I. 9 One is a Rimer sir, o' your owne batch, your owne leuin; but doth think himselfe Poet-maior, o' the towne.

1659 J. Lamont Diary 17 Feb. (1830) 114 He entered bajan with Mr Ja. Weyms, maior, regent ther.

b. Designating the elder or senior of two pupils with the same surname or the first to enter the school (used esp. in British public schools); (also gen.) the elder of two persons with the same surname. Abbreviated as ma (see ma adj.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > senior person > [adjective]

morelOE

senior?a1475

sen.1676

senr.1763

primus1765

ma1791

majorc1823

maximus1848

?1593 H. Chettle Kind-harts Dreame sig. C2 He whipt her with a foxes taile, Barnes minor, And he whipt her with a foxes taile, Barnes maior.

c1823 J. Mordaunt Let. in E. Hamilton Mordaunts (1965) xi. 265 Ashby major the eldest is coming back soon to take leave.

1855 G. Monkland Literature & Literati of Bath Suppl. 22 I had four school-fellows of the name of Hoblyn, Maximus, Major, Minor, and Minimus.

1866 Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. Mar. 146 Brown major had a trick of bringing up unpleasant topics.

1989 Independent 27 Oct. 19/5 A comprehensible but rather superficial treatment of Amis major is followed by a treatment of James Kelman.

3. That constitutes the majority or larger part; usually with part, portion, or other similar nouns. Formerly (rare) in predicative use: †greater in quantity (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [adjective] > constituting main or major part

mosteOE

muchc1225

main1579

major1593

gross1692

1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie iv. xiii. 204 When they are the major part of a generall assembly.

1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love ii. iii. sig. D4 The most generall, or Maior part of Opinion, goes with the face, & (simply) respects nothing else.

1621 H. Elsynge Notes Deb. House of Lords (1870) 85 The House to debate the doubte,..and, if the major part doubte, yt may be re-comitted.

1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 118 For the Major part it is barren.

1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 127 That they all had votes, and that the major number concluded the matter.

1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 85 This Senate chuses..A Rector magnificus out of their own number by major Vote.

a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 25 The major part of the City lies between two Hills.

1743 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) III. 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.

1774 T. Hutchinson Diary 3 Oct. (1884) I. 254 A person had the major vote for Alderman... Another person..had the minor vote in the election.

1790 E. Umfreville Present State of Hudson's Bay 16 After wandering about..for the major part of the day.

1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India I. v. ii. 374 The major party deemed it an important article of the duty of the Supreme Council.

1866 A. Crump Pract. Treat. Banking i. 25 It will be found, in by far the major part of these failures.

1904 J. London Sea-wolf v. 46 It was before this steady wind that he hoped to make the major portion of the run to Japan.

1958 R. K. Narayan Guide ii. 25 He kept us in his charge for the major part of the day.

1991 M. Young Inside Job (BNC) 83 It is a daily influx of petty offenders and successfully detected trivia that makes up the major part of the detective's world.

†4.

a. Chiefly Scottish. Of full age; out of one's minority. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > adult > [adjective] > legal maturity

sui juris1590

majorc1600

emancipated1726

c1600 in Balfour's Practicks (1754) 241 The superiour..being ane fre man, male or female, major or minor, clerk or laique man.

1646 J. Howell Lustra Ludovici 27 [It] was an open..attempt upon his authoritie now that he is declar'd Major.

a1649 W. Drummond Hist. James II in Wks. (1711) 21 A King of France is declared to be of full Years and Major the Fourteenth of his Age.

1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. ii. 23 At which time I arriv'd to man's estate, and became major.

1787 C. Smith Romance Real Life I. 162 The Chevalier de Villiers being major, might marry Julie de Lalande.

1840 W. M. Thackeray Mr. Deuceace at Paris in Yellowplush Mem. viii We are both major, you know; so that the ceremony of a guardian's consent is unnecessary.

1892 G. R. Gillespie tr. L. von Bar Theory & Pract. Private Internat. Law 312 A Dutch minor, who is by the law of Belgium major, cannot dispose of his real property in Belgium without [etc.].

b. figurative in Scottish proverbial phrase. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1808 R. Forsyth 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’.

†5. Paramount to all other claims. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. i. 41 My maior vow lies here; this ile obay.

II. In technical uses.

6. Mathematics. Designating the irrational sum of two irrational lengths with properties as described in the 39th proposition of the tenth book of Euclid's Elements (see quot. 1908). (Only with reference to or in translations of Euclid's work.) Cf. minor adj. 4a.irrational is used here in Euclid's sense: see irrational adj. 3.

ΚΠ

1571 T. Digges in L. Digges's Geom. Pract.: Pantometria ix. sig. X iv ^v If the side of Icosaedron be a line rationall, the dimetient of the comprehending sphere shalbe an irrationall line called Maior.

1571 T. Digges in L. Digges's Geom. Pract.: Pantometria ix. sig. X iv ^v The semi-dimetiente of that circle wheron the body is framed will be an irrationall, called of Euclide Maior.

1908 T. L. Heath tr. Euclid Elem. III. 87 If two straight lines incommensurable in square which make the sum of the squares on them rational, but the rectangle contained by them medial, be added together, the whole straight line is irrational: and let it be called major.

7. Music.

a. Of an interval: that is the larger, by a small fraction, of two differently derived versions of the same interval (as major tone, major semitone, major third, etc.) (now historical). Now usually: (of an interval) larger by a semitone than the correlative minor interval; chiefly in major third, major sixth, major seventh, (occasionally major fourth and major fifth, usually called perfect). Hence also: designating the note separated by a major interval from a given note.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [adjective] > major

plain1445

perfecta1450

greater1597

major1653

sharp1694

1653 Ld. Brouncker tr. R. Descartes Excellent Compend. Musick 30 A certaine Fraction, which may be the difference betwixt a Tone major and a Tone minor, which we nominate a Schism.

1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony iv. 64 If A to B, be as 5 to 4, they sound a Ditone, or Third Major.

1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony iv. 66 ⁴/ ₅ sound a Third Major,..³/ ₅ a Sixth Major.

1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony vi. 150 In Diatonic Music, there is but one Sort of Hemitone..called Hemitone Major; whose Ration is 16 to 15... There are two Sorts of Tones; viz. Major, and Minor.

1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony vi. 185 7th. Major..15 to 8.

1742 R. North & M. North Life F. North 298 He makes great Ado about dividing Tones Major, Tones Minor, Dieses and Commas, with the Quantities of them.

1761 Philos. Trans. 1760 (Royal Soc.) 51 772 He..affirming..that the Dorian mode answered exactly to our A-mi-la with a minor third, and the Phrygian to our A-mi-la with a major third.

1806 J. W. Callcott Musical Gram. ii. i. 98 The Major Second..does not consist of two equal parts.

1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 242/2 The pertinacity with which professors adhere to the expression perfect fifth and perfect fourth, and abhor the term major fifth and major fourth.

1900 Grove's Dict. Music II. 200/2 The term ‘major’ is also used in a theoretical sense of tones, to distinguish the interval of a tone which has the ratio 9:8 from that which has the ratio 10:9, which is called a minor tone. For example, in the key of C, C–D is a major tone and D–E a minor one, and the difference between them is a comma.

1939 Scrutiny 7 iv. 398 The vocal descriptions (by means of leaps of major sevenths, quarter tones, shouts, croaks and glissandi)..are open to the same criticism.

1993 M. Kennedy Britten (rev. ed.) xxii. 186 The work's Urtmotiv , a minor-within-major third heard in the opening bars.

b. Of a key: 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.)

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [adjective] > tonality > major key

sharp1694

major1786

1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music at Key The natural keys of C major and A minor.

1848 E. F. Rimbault First Bk. Pianoforte 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.

1887 R. Browning C. Avison in Parleyings xiii Blare it forth, bold C major!

c. Of a scale: with semitones above the third and seventh notes.

ΚΠ

1866 C. Engel Introd. Study National Music ii. 25 The major and minor scales.

1964 Conc. Oxf. Dict. Music 320/1 The first 3 notes of every major scale are called fa-sol-la.

d. Of a common chord or triad: containing a major third between the root and the second note; of a cadence: ending on such a chord.

ΚΠ

1929 W. W. Cobbett Cycl. Surv. Chamber Music I. 44/1 Each of these combinations may take the following four different forms according as one or the other triad is major or minor.

1989 Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida (Yearbk.) 40/1 The first movement's principal theme begins prosaically by outlining an E-flat major triad.

8. Early Music. (a) In the perfect or imperfect mode: designating or relating to the relationship between the large and the long, as opposed to that between the long and the breve. (b) Designating or relating to that type of prolation in which there is an equivalence of three minims to a semibreve; cf. perfect adj. 10a.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [adjective] > types of proportion

proportionate?a1505

imperfectc1570

perfect1588

retorted1597

retortive1597

imperfectible1609

major?1779

minor?1779

?1779 W. Waring tr. J.-J. Rousseau Compl. Dict. Music 242 The major perfect mode was marked with three lines, each of which filled three spaces of the stave; and three others, which filled only two. Under this mode the maximum was equal to three longues.

?1779 W. Waring tr. J.-J. Rousseau Compl. Dict. Music 243 The major imperfect mode was marked by two lines, each of which crossed three spaces, and two others which crossed only two, and in that case the maximum two longues only [sic].

1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. at Mensurable Division of the large into longs was called major mode..; of the semibreve into minims, prolation (added later, and sometimes confusingly called major or minor, instead of ‘perfect’ or ‘imperfect’).

1957 C. Parrish Notation Medieval Mus. vi. 144 The prolation was at first indicated by three dots within the circle for major (perfect) prolation.

1980 New Grove Dict. Music XIII. 362 The semibreve could be either ‘major’ or ‘minor’.

1984 O. B. Ellsworthy tr. Berkeley Manuscript 151 ‘Major’ is taken with respect to the relationship of maximae to longae.

1986 Early Music 14 356/1 According to 15th-century practices..the major/minor indicated the prolation.

†9. Prosody. Designating the longer of two types of verse bearing a common name. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [adjective] > longer of two types with same name

major1821

1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 10 388 The third foot of the major ionic tetrameter.

1883 G. A. Simcox Hist. Lat. Lit. II. 356 St. Agnes, whose legend is given in very spirited major alcaics.

10. Medicine. Designating epilepsy of the grand mal type; (later also) designating a generalized tonic–clonic seizure (characteristic of but not exclusive to this type of epilepsy).

ΚΠ

a1883 C. H. Fagge Princ. & Pract. Med. (1886) I. 683 An attack of major epilepsy..does not always conform strictly to the above description.

1891 F. Taylor Man. Pract. Med. (ed. 2) 290 Epilepsy occurs in two well-marked forms, described as major and minor attacks... The major attack consists of the fully developed fit, with coma and violent convulsion.

1943 Lancet 6 Nov. 578/2 Petit mal or slow-wave activity is less amenable to phenobarbitone and other anticonvulsants than are major fits.

1949 Progress Neurol. & Psychiatry 4 414 Narcoleptic sleep,..major convulsions, or other ‘epileptic’ symptoms.

1975 Neurology 25 935 All values were normal in five patients studied more than 4 days after a major seizure.

1991 Jrnl. Pakistan Med. Assoc. 41 135/2 It is difficult to differentiate between ‘benign febrile convulsions’ and major epilepsy attacks precipitated by fever.

1998 Amer. Jrnl. Nephrol. 18 557 The patient had a major seizure, progressive psychiatric signs and fever 5 days prior to admission.

B. n.¹

I. Something regarded as greater or more significant than a counterpart.

1. Logic. A major term or premise.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > premise(s) > major or first premise

major1530

proposition1532

major proposition1533

sumption1656

major premise1728

propositum1858

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 467/1 Of that major graunted he brought in foure or fyve conclusions.

1532 T. More Let. Impugnynge J. Fryth in Wks. 840/2 In this argument hee begynneth with (shoulde) in the maior, and than in the minor and the conclusion turneth into (can).

1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 168 b I deny the Major of this Arguement. In the Minor I distinguish this word Necessitie.

1634 J. Canne Necessitie of Separation ii. 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.

1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse v. 94 Thou art out in thy Logick. Thy major is true, but thy minor is false.

1717 M. Prior Alma iii. 78 Can syllogism set things right? No: majors soon with minors fight.

1788 T. Reid Aristotle's Logic iv. §3 Converting the major by contraposition.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. x. 629 They cared little whether their major agreed with their conclusion.

1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic vii. 198 The violation of this last Rule, in respect to the Major Term, is called illicit process of the Major.

1906 J. N. Keynes Stud. & Exerc. Formal Logic (ed. 4) iii. vi. 365 Taking the simple constructive dilemma given above, and contrapositing the major.

1972 I. M. Copi Introd. Logic (ed. 4) vi. 201 The argument is said to commit the fallacy of Illicit Process of the Major Term (or, more briefly, the Illicit Major).

2. Music. A major interval, key, scale, etc. Cf. sense A. 7.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > key > major key

major1667

1667 C. Simpson Compend. Pract. Musick 54 Imperfect Concords afford more variety upon accompt of their Majors and Minors.

1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 547 (note) Such another piece [is]..upon C, with sol, ut, and its major.

1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 360 The transition..from any Minor key to its relative Major.

1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 363 A Minor key [may be said to be related] to the same key in the Major.

1880 E. Gurney Power of Sound 271 Modern harmonists are unwilling to acknowledge that the minor triad is less consonant than the major.

1944 D. Tovey Chamber Music xvi. 170 In the next pair of variations, we return to the major, with a lively anapest rhythm.

3. Originally U.S. In a university, college, etc.: a student's special or principal subject or course; a student specializing in a particular subject.

ΘΚΠ

society > education > learning > study > subject or object of study > [noun] > major or minor subject

major1890

minor1890

society > education > learning > learner > college or university student > [noun] > specializing student

major1949

1878 Johns Hopkins Univ. Reg. in Hist. Educ. Q. (1961) 1 No. 2. 58 The major course must be followed in any subject which the candidate offers as one of his two chief departments of work.]

1890 in 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.

1907 Columbia Univ. Catal. Mar. Open only to students taking a major in the Department of English.

1926 Amer. Oxonian July 100 Oxford is a school for specialists. There are no minors, no electives, nothing but majors.

1949 Daily 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.

1961 New Statesman 3 Mar. 338 In English Studies the ‘major’ could be English literature.

1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) i. i. 27 Conferences with their college advisors about their possible choice of majors.

1989 J. C. Eccles Evol. Brain ix. 198 She was a music major and an accomplished pianist.

4. Sport.

a. Baseball. = major league n. 1.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > league

big league1882

minor league1885

little league1886

major league1888

major1911

Babe Ruth1953

1911 Baseball Mag. Oct. 25 (caption) Only those States are shown which have representation..of the three leading baseball organizations namely, the Majors, the Class A or the class B leagues.

1931 Durant (Oklahoma) Daily Democrat 25 July 6/3 Its becoming commonplace in the majors today.

1949 Newsweek 18 July 64/3 The majors' youngest team (average age 24) might have its ups and downs.

1967 N. Mailer Cannibals & Christians i. 70 The majors would have eighty-two baseball teams in each league.

b. = major penalty n. at Compounds.

ΚΠ

1925 Gazette (Montreal) 17 Dec. 16/1 (heading) Broadbent and Conacher given majors for fighting—Munro scored his first goal.

1964 F. Mahovlich Ice Hockey vii. 41 Under National Hockey League rules..the penalised player is permitted to return to the ice from a minor just as soon as the non-offending team scores a goal... If the penalized player is serving a major..though, he must serve full time.

c. (a) Australian Rules Football. A goal, scored when the ball is kicked between the goalposts, and earning six points; (b) Canadian Football a touchdown (as opposed to a field goal).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [noun] > actions

exchange1604

measuring cast1647

winner1811

glovework1822

piledriver1858

cockshot1861

legwork1868

footwork1871

winning stroke1884

teamwork1885

benching1904

three-sixty1927

wrong-footing1928

power play1932

major1951

sharpshooting1976

1951 Football Record (Melbourne) 8 Sept. 18 They opened with four behinds, and then rattled on sixteen majors.

1969 Sun-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.

1970 Globe & 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.

1991 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Nov. c8/1 Toronto defensive back Ed Berry returned Barrett's first pass attempt 50 yards for a major.

d. A major tournament, championship, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > types of

all comersc1450

after-gamea1500

fore-game1594

revenge1616

plate1639

set-to1743

return match1753

bye1754

scrub-race1791

anybody's game (also race, match)1826

return1834

barney1843

bonspiel1858

handicap1861

pennant1865

home-and-home1868

benefit match1871

run-off1873

international1877

American tournament1878

Grand Prix1879

single1884

friendly1885

all-comers1889

pair1890

championship1893

round robin1894

replay1895

Olympiad1896

junior varsity1902

lightning tournament1903

rematch1903

road trip1903

pickup1905

freestyle1906

marathon1908

test1908

Derby1909

scrimmage1910

eliminator1911

twosome1911

triala1914

quadrangular1916

slug-fest1916

varsity match1921

needle contest1922

curtain jerker1923

needle match1923

open1926

needle fight1927

knock-out1928

shirt1930

masters1933

pro-amateur1934

tune-up1934

World Cup1934

pro-am1937

state1941

sizzler1942

runathon1943

mismatch1954

run-out1955

match-up1959

squeaker1961

triple-header1961

Super Bowl1967

invitational1968

needle game1970

major1976

slobberknocker1986

1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 17 June 1– h/5 He has one major to his credit, the '73 British Open.

1992 Chess Monthly Sept. 5/3 In the Major, H. Gilmartin St Asaph and P. Naylor Preston won with 4½/5.

II. Personal and related uses.

†5. A person of full age. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > adult > [noun]

major1615

adult1655

grown-up1799

full-growner1867

1615 J. Castle in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) I. 431 Every man that is once knighted is ipso-facto made a major, and sui juris.

1656 in J. A. Clyde Hope's Major Practicks (1938) II. 175 If any major succeid.

1754 J. Shebbeare Marriage Act II. lxix. 321 In France..the Major, whether Man or Woman, who marries a Minor, is punished with Death.

1836 T. Hood Coming of Age in Comic Ann. 86 I'm free to give my I O U, Sign, draw, accept, as majors do.

6. A major individual or member of a specified class. In modern use esp., a major company, organization, etc. Cf. sense A. 1.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > one who is important > one who is more important

morec1275

major1626

organ-grinder1957

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §839 (margin) Experiment Solitary, touching Alterations, which may be called Maiors.

1660 Trial Regic. 12 If He [sc. the King] be Supreme, there is neither Major, nor Superior.

1897 Daily News 20 Mar. 5/2 The minors [sc. poets], and many who esteem themselves majors, are constantly on offer.

1954 Billboard 5 June 14 Majors and subsids switch to 45s for Pops to Deejays.

1968 Wall 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.’

1974 Spartanburg (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.

1988 Daily Tel. 5 Mar. (Weekend Suppl.) p. xv/2 The return policies operated by the majors make it impossible to stock every record released.

†7.

a. Oxford University. An official of the University. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1721 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius 15 Feb. Having saunter'd a pretty while along the Quadrangle, impatient of the Lecturers Delay, I asked the Major (who is an Officer belonging to the Schools) whether it was usual now and then to slip a Lecture or so.

b. Christian Church. The superior in certain brotherhoods. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1756 A. Butler Lives Saints I. 267 They [sc. monks of the Order of Camaldoli] call their superiour, Major.

1883 P. Schaff et al. Relig. Encycl. II. 1025/1 Even the smaller ones [sc. brotherhoods of hospitallers] had their superior or major.

Compounds

major arcana n. [after French arcanes majeurs (1889)] (with plural or singular agreement) the principal cards of the tarot pack, each of which has a particular symbolic significance in cartomancy; cf. minor arcana n. at minor adj. and n. Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

1892 A. P. Morton tr. ‘Papus’ Tarot Bohemians v. 35 The Tarot is composed of 78 cards..56 cards called the minor arcana, 22 cards called the major arcana.

1931 J. C. Locke tr. É.-J. Grillot de Givry Witchcraft, Magic & Alchemy ii. vii. 282 Cartomancers divide their packs more elaborately into two series which they call the Major Arcana, numbering twenty-two cards, and the Minor Arcana, numbering fifty-six—or fifty-two according to some conventions.

1986 R. Pollack Teach yourself Fortune Telling iv. 72 Most people who interpret the Major Arcana as a sequence divide it up in some way. Some see it as two halves with the break coming at the Wheel of Fortune. The first half deals with the outer concerns of life, such as career, marriage, and the achievement of success and power. At a certain point we will realize the limitations of such things and turn inward on a quest for self-knowledge, represented by the second half.

major axis n. Geometry the axis of a conic section, which passes through the foci, esp. the longer axis of an ellipse; also called principal axis, transverse axis.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > planet > planetary movement > [noun] > orbit > major axis

major axis1840

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > geometric space > [noun] > division or marking of > axis > passing through foci

principal axis1704

transverse axis1704

transverse1743

longitudinal axis1744

focal axis1794

major axis1840

1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 492/1 The major axis of the isometrical projection of a circle is equal to the side of the circumscribing square.

1885 C. Leudesdorf tr. L. Cremona Elements Projective 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.

1969 T. R. McGuire & P. J. Flanders in A. E. Berkowitz & E. Kneller Magnetism & Metall. I. iv. 145 The reflected light is elliptically polarized with the major axis of the ellipse rotated with respect to the original axis of the light.

1992 Astron. Now July 16/2 The spot was 0.22 magnitudes fainter than the Moon's crescent and..its shape was not circular but rather elliptical, with its major axis along the terminator.

major circle n. †(a) = great circle n. at circle n. 2a (obsolete); (b) Geometry a circle that encloses an ellipse and has a diameter coincident with its major axis.

ΚΠ

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 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.

1933 J. M. Child Elem. Coordinate Geom. xiii. 196 These two circles are of very great importance in the geometry of the ellipse; they are known as the major and minor auxiliary circles.]

1961 L. J. Adams & P. A. White Analytic Geom. & Calculus vii. 253 The circle of radius b is the minor auxiliary circle, and the circle of radius a is the major auxiliary circle. From O draw a line intersecting the minor circle at A and the major circle at B.

1989 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 943/2 A circle around the ellipse with O as its centre and a radius a is called the major circle or auxiliary circle.

major depression n. Psychiatry the mental condition depression in a severe or full-blown form, typically characterized by occurring in distinct episodes lasting for at least 2 weeks, by impairment of cognitive and social or occupational functioning, and by disturbances of appetite and sleep; (occasionally also) an instance of episode of this.

ΚΠ

1947 Year Bk. Neurol., Psychiatry & Neurosurgery 1946 352 Forty-one [patients] had highly neurotic, unstable or alcoholic parents, and 18, near relatives with a history of major depression.

1974 G. F. Gilder Naked Nomads i. 16 There is no question that even beyond major depression and chronic disease conditions, the group of single men between twenty-five and sixty-five is in bad shape psychologically.

1994 N.Y. Times 11 Jan. c10/2 Children who experience an episode of minor depression were found to have a high likelihood of suffering from a major depression within two years—a so-called ‘double depression’.

2018 S. Barton & P. Armstrong CBT for Depression (e-book, accessed 30 Sept. 2021) ii. 35 Because major depression is a recurring problem, it is essential to help clients prepare for challenges after their regular sessions have finished.

major diameter n. Engineering the outer or larger diameter of an object, esp. a screw thread.

ΚΠ

1924 J. A. Moyer et al. in L. S. Marks Mech. Engin. Handbk. (ed. 2) xv. 1853 The maximum and minimum major and minor diameters are the same for all screws of a given size for all classes of fit.

1951 Engineering 21 Sept. 369/3 A screw thread has..seven elements of shape and size: major diameter, minor diameter, effective diameter, pitch, flank angles, [etc.].

1991 Metalworking Production Sept. (Quality Suppl.) q7/2 Sized 0.001in below bottom limit, the gauge is aligned with a slight shake to measure major diameter across two points.

major element n. spec. a chemical element that is present or required in relatively large amounts; (Biology) = macronutrient n.; (Geology) an element that constitutes more than 5 per cent of a rock.

ΚΠ

1950 Proc. Royal Soc. Canada 44 227 Spectrographic methods of determination of the major elements of rocks have been developed in an attempt to supplement more costly and time-consuming chemical analyses.

1950 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Add. Major element = Macronutrient.

1952 A. M. Smith Manures & Fertilisers viii. 190 In the past, attention was directed exclusively to the major elements and the physical condition of the soil, so that a disorder in the plant which could not be explained in terms of a major deficiency or an attack by fungus or insect had to be dismissed as ‘soil-sickness’.

1964 Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta 28 793 Forty-two tektites and two ‘amerikanites’ were..analysed for major elements.

1993 Jrnl. Petrol. 34 472 The major elements plus Rb, Sr, and Ni were determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) methods.

Major Fellow n. [compare post-classical Latin socius senior (17th cent. in a British source in an academic context); compare earlier Senior Fellow at senior adj. 2b] Cambridge University (now historical) (at Trinity College) a fellow who has proceeded to the degree of M.A.; a senior fellow.

ΚΠ

1670 I. Walton Life G. Herbert 21 in Lives He was made Minor Fellow in the year 1609... Major Fellow of the Colledge, March 15. 1615.

1896 Dict. National Biogr. XLVII. 323/2 He was elected minor fellow of Trinity College 3 Oct. 1836, and major fellow 3 July 1838.

major histocompatibility complex n. Immunology a group of tightly linked, highly polymorphic genes coding especially for cell surface antigens involved in the regulation of the immune response in vertebrates; frequently attributive, designating proteins encoded by these genes; abbreviated MHC.

ΚΠ

1971 Cellular Immunol. 2 517 (heading) A new interpretation of the major histocompatibility gene complexes of man and mouse.]

1972 Transplant Proc. 4 451 (heading) Lymphocyte-defined differences of the major histocompatibility complex.

1989 Jrnl. Autoimmunity 2 740 It is believed that activation of Ts cells requires the recognition of antigen in association with class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules while helper cells are Class II-MHC restricted.

1997 Ann. Thoracic Surg. 64 1019 Cardiac allografts were heterotopically transplanted across a major histocompatibility complex class I barrier in partially inbred miniature swine and monitored for rejection by serial biopsies, electrocardiograms, and echocardiograms.

major histocompatibility locus n. Immunology (a) = major histocompatibility complex n.; (b) any individual locus of the major histocompatibility complex.

ΚΠ

1967 Trans. Assoc. Amer. Physicians 80 142 (title) Induction of simultaneous immunological paralysis and sensitization to different antigenic activities controlled by the major histocompatibility locus in the adult mouse.

1968 Jrnl. Exper. Med. 128 1 (title) Genetic control of the antibody response in inbred mice. Transfer of response by spleen cells and linkage to the major histocompatibility (H-2) locus.

1992 Nat. Hist. Feb. 44/1 About fifty in number, these genes, clustered on chromosome 17 in mice and its equivalent in other vertebrates, are known as the major histocompatibility locus, or Mhc.

1992 Transplantation 54 694 Much lower rates of rejection were obscured..when the donors of the grafts differed from recipients at class I and/or class II major histocompatibility loci.

major junior n. Canadian Ice Hockey the top level of junior competition; chiefly attributive.

ΚΠ

1970 Hockey News 9 Oct. 27/1 The long-standing circuit has relented and altered its name as the result of the new junior hockey setup in Canada and will henceforth be known as the ‘Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A League’.

1993 Hockey News (Toronto) 5 Feb. 12/5 The acid test for..major junior hockey's powers as a drawing card..will be next season.

major penalty n. Ice Hockey a penalty requiring the player to leave the ice for five minutes; cf. minor penalty n. at minor adj. and n. Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

1925 Gazette (Montreal) 14 Dec. 18/2 The pair started a jabbing bee which ended in them both drawing major penalties just as the game ended.

1963 Calgary (Alberta) Herald 11 Nov. 9/2 Alex Faulkner was in the penalty box serving a major penalty for high-sticking Montreal's Ralph Backstrom and drawing blood.

1993 Hockey News (Toronto) 5 Feb. 11/2 Major penalties must be served in full, even if the opposing team scores while a player is in the penalty box.

major piece n. Chess a queen or rook; cf. minor piece n. at minor adj. and n. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > pieces > superior pieces

nobility1656

nobleman1656

officer1805

major piece1945

1945 E. Lasker Mod. Chess Strategy i. i. 6 Knight and Bishop are called ‘minor pieces’ in contrast to the more mobile Rook and Queen, the ‘major pieces’.

1974 F. Brady Chess 15 Knights and Bishops are called minor pieces, while Queens and Rooks are referred to as major pieces.

1984 Oxf. Compan. Chess 199 Major piece, the queen or the rook. Either can force mate when there are no other men but kings on the board.

major planet n. Astronomy (a) = giant planet n. at giant n. and adj. Additions; (b) each of the larger bodies which orbit the sun (in order of increasing distance from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto).

ΚΠ

1846 D. Lardner Pop. Lect. Sci. & Art I. 143 The planets..will naturally be classed in three distinct groups, the first of which we shall call the minor planets, the second the new planets, and the third the major planets.

1869 E. Dunkin Midnight Sky 278 It is very probable that Neptune is furnished with several moons, in like manner with the other major planets.

1902 G. F. Chambers Story Solar Syst. i. 10 The following is an enumeration of the major planets in the order of their distances, reckoning from the Sun outwards:– 1. Mercury. 2. Venus. 3. The Earth [etc.].

1954 C. Payne-Gaposchkin Introd. Astron. viii. 177 The major planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are all large, of low density, and surrounded by huge atmospheres.

1991 C. A. Ronan Nat. Hist. Universe 40/2 The Sun's family comprises nine major planets and scores of moons.

major player n. a leading figure in a particular field; (Business) a leading competitor in a particular market.

ΚΠ

1963 Internat. Organization 17 ii. 415 In a multipolar system a lesser unit can become a major player if it plays the game well enough; in a bipolar one a lesser state, in order to become a big contender, must change the rules of the game.

1977 Business Week (Industr. ed.) (Nexis) 21 Nov. 102 Litton Industries Inc., the giant conglomerate, has quietly shut down its effort. Two major players..have lost vital ground in the last year or two.

1993 Globe & Mail Rep. on Business Apr. 63 Eicon Technology..is fast becoming a major player in the highly competitive world of computer networking.

major point n. Rugby (now historical) a goal (opposed to minor point, i.e. a try).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > scoring

touch1845

run-in1846

rouge1856

touchdown1856

touch-in-goal1869

try1870

minor1883

minor point1884

pot1888

major point1896

penalty try1922

conversion1927

pushover1940

1896 Field 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.

major premise n. (also major premiss) Logic the premise that contains the major term of a syllogism.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > premise(s) > major or first premise

major1530

proposition1532

major proposition1533

sumption1656

major premise1728

propositum1858

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Syllogism They [sc. the two propositions of a syllogism] are both called..Premises..and..both are called Antecedents, only the first the Major, and the latter the Minor.

1821 J. Walker Familiar Comm. Compend. Logic Dublin (ed. 4) 92 If they be both affirmative, the middle term must be universal in the major premiss, and its subject.

1871 J. Morley Carlyle in Crit. Misc. (1878) 168 A man of genius is at liberty to assume all his major premisses.

1909 W. James Mem. & Stud. (1911) viii. 186 The major premise is: ‘Any spirit-revelation must be romantic.’ The minor of the spiritist is: ‘This is romantic.’

1954 A. Huxley Doors of Perception 48 If one began with fear and hate as the major premiss, one would have to go on to the conclusion.

2002 M. Joseph Trivium 158 We find the Aristotelian sorites, which places the minor premise first, much more comfortable than the Goclenian sorites, which places the major premise first.

major proposition n. Logic = major premise n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > premise(s) > major or first premise

major1530

proposition1532

major proposition1533

sumption1656

major premise1728

propositum1858

1533 J. Frith Bk. answeringe Mores Let. sig. Gvj Now of this maior or first proposition thus vnderstand doth the conclusion follow directlye.

1661 A. Cowley Vision Cromwell 41 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.

1863 A. Trollope Rachel Ray I. ix. 185 She felt that any word of assent, though given by her to a minor proposition, might be taken as involving some amount of assent towards the major proposition.

major road n. chiefly British a principal road, esp. one classified as an A road or a B road; phrase major road ahead (used on British road signs until 1967).

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > main or major road

great road1614

high road1620

main road1741

highway1837

traffic artery1845

trunk road1848

main-way1862

arterial road1886

primary roada1903

route1912

arterial1920

major road1930

spine road1961

1930 Highway Code 7 It is the duty of a driver on a minor road when approaching a major road to go dead slow.

1937 R. F. Broad Motor Driving made Easy (ed. 6) v. 61 The Halt at Major Road Ahead sign..enforces a definite standstill upon road users.

1972 A. Draper Death Penalty v. 37 Hudson drove the car at full speed, not even bothering to halt at the major road ahead.

major suit n. Bridge the suit of spades or hearts.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > bridge > [noun] > suits

major suit1913

minor suit1916

minor1927

1913 F. Irwin Auction High-lights 95 A preëmptive opening-bid in a major suit means that the bidder wants no information and wishes to play the hand of his own suit.

1973 Country Life 13 Dec. 2048/1 Many pairs reached Six Diamonds, which is an inferior contract... It scores less than the major suit slam.

major term n. Logic a term that occurs as the predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > conclusion > major or minor term of

major term1599

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > term of a proposition > [noun] > predicate > related terms

major term1599

1599 T. Blundeville Art of Logike 118 The one is called the Maior terme.

1774 T. Reid Aristotle's Logic iii. §2 The major term is always the predicate of the conclusion.

1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic vii. 198 The violation of this last Rule, in respect to the Major Term, is called illicit process of the Major.

1972 I. M. Copi Introd. Logic (ed. 4) vi. 201 The argument is said to commit the fallacy of Illicit Process of the Major Term (or, more briefly, the Illicit Major).

major tranquillizer n. Medicine any of a group of psychoactive drugs (now more commonly known as antipsychotics or neuroleptics) used chiefly to treat psychotic disorders, esp. schizophrenia.

ΚΠ

1959 New Scientist 31 Dec. 1353/1 The psychotherapeutic drugs fall at present into two classes: those that mend schizophrenia—the major tranquillizers, ataractics and neuroleptics: and those that relieve psychotic depression.

1976 Amer. Jrnl. Psychiatry 133 83/1 Major tranquilizers included chlorpromazine, trifluoperazine, thiothixene, fluphenazine, prochlorperazine, acetophenazine, chlorprothixene, perphenazine, and haloperidol.

1991 E. Currie Dope & Trouble p. xxi Periodically, a nurse appears with a tray of medications, ranging from antibiotics for the endemic minor infections the kids bring to the Hall, to a battery of ‘antipsychotic’ drugs and major tranquilizers.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	major
释义	majorn.² Brit. /ˈmeɪdʒə/, U.S. /ˈmeɪdʒər/ Forms: 1500s maior, 1600s mayor, 1600s meager (Scottish), 1600s– major. Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening; perhaps modelled on a Spanish lexical item. Etymon: sergeant-major n. Etymology: Shortened < sergeant-major n., perhaps after Spanish mayor major n.¹ (16th cent. in the senses ‘commander, quartermaster’; now only in American Spanish, in which it may have been reintroduced from English). Compare Dutch majoor (earlier also major) and German Major (replacing the older term Oberstwachtmeister), both late 16th cent. < Spanish, and evidently dating from the Dutch war of independence; also French major (1660), Italian maggiore (1618). I. As a military rank, etc. 1. a. An officer in the army ranking below a lieutenant colonel and above a captain; (hence) an officer of equivalent rank in the air force, marine corps, or medical services of a country in which the rank applies; (also) as a title, preceding a surname.In quot. 1575, applied to a captain: see note at sergeant-major n. 1a. major of a brigade n. (also major of brigade) = brigade-major n. at brigade n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer by rank > [noun] > major sergeant-major1574 major1575 Maj.1648 1575 T. Churchyard 1st Pt. Chippes f. 9 The reste in trenche, did stand as did befall Till warning made, of Randall maior there. 1579 L. Digges & T. Digges Stratioticos 105 Item, the Sergeant Maior, by his office, is to appoint euerie Captayne his place.] 1641 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1870) V. 369/2 We þe Leutennent Collonellis and Majores of horse and foote in þe late scottishe Army doe humblie shewe [etc.]. a1671 T. Fairfax Short Mem. (1699) 88 Major Fairfax, who was Major to his regiment, had at least 30 wounds, of which he dyed at York. 1675 R. Baxter Catholick Theol. ii. xiii. 294 Major Danvers, an Anabaptist. 1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vii. 182 Whereof the Lord Digby..Colonel Wagstaffe, and Major Leg were the chief of the wounded. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) 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. 1781 T. Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 9 The Majors of Brigade go every day to receive the orders from the Adjutant-general. 1781 T. Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 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. 1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. i. 3 The major commandant and the officers retired to consult. 1844 Queen's Regulations & Orders Army 69 No Officer shall be promoted to the Rank of Major, until he has been six years in the Service. 1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xxxv. 160 There was a tennis-party at the vicarage, and two girls came, daughters of a retired major in an Indian regiment. 1990 A. Beevor Inside Brit. Army i. 4 They may well become a sergeant major by the time they are thirty, then a ‘late entry’ captain or even major. b. An officer in the Salvation Army ranking next above a captain. ΘΚΠ society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > salvationism > [noun] > person > officer captain1878 lieutenant1884 major1907 1881 W. Booth Doctr. & Discipline Salvation Army §31.1 The Treasurers and Secretaries are recommended by the Captains to the Majors or Generals of Division. 1886 Orders & Regul. Field Officers Salvation Army v. vii. §5. 169 A Major is an Officer placed in command of a District which does not form any part of a Division. 1907 G. B. Shaw (title) Major Barbara. 1961 W. A. Hagelund Flying Chase Flag iii. 48 Now you go see the Major at the Johnson Street Sally Anne about some meal tickets and beds. 1975 Times 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. c. British Services' slang. A (usually regimental) sergeant-major; (also) a senior Royal Marine officer. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer by rank > [noun] > sergeant-major first sergeant1776 sergeant-major1802 company sergeant major1813 S.M.1890 top1898 top sergeant1898 major1901 RSM1913 top cutter1917 top kick1918 Sar-Major1919 top soldier1926 Sarn't-major1946 1901 G. Goodenough Handy Man Afloat & Ashore 163 Passing on to the nicknames given..to various officers and men: The admiral is the Ral; the captain, the Skipper..sergeant of Marines, Major. 1910 R. Blatchford My Life in Army xvii. 52 The ‘major’ meant well. 1919 Athenæum 25 July 664/1 ‘Major’, for Sergeant-major—a polite form of address by an N.C.O. 1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 150 Major, the, the usual name among N.C.O.'s colloquially for the Sergeant Major. 1962 W. Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 74 Major, the, wardroom form of address, or term for, the senior Royal Marine officer, though he may be only a captain. II. Other uses. 2. In full major wig. A full wig tied back in a queue. Now historical. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > wig > types of > gathered and tied > types of major?1750 brigadier-wigc1770 ?1750 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1877) III. i. 780 Not a Tye, Major or Brig, bespoke. 1753 T. Smollett Ferdinand Count Fathom II. liv. 167 His tye-wig degenerated into a major. c1770 J. Granger Lett. (1815) 280 A full wig tied back in one curl is a Major, in two curls is a Brigadier. 1785 Lounger No. 4. An embroidered waistcoat with very large flaps, a major wig, long ruffles nicely plaited. 1823 Mirror of Lit. 12 July 2 115/1 Lander made his [sc. the poet Thomson's] majors and bobs. 1966 J. Stevens Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 94/1 Major wig, an 18th cent. man's wig style with two tails. 1984 J. Nunn Fashion in Costume 82 Other wigs included..the major (1750s)—called a brigadier in France—adopted by civilians from the military, which had two corkscrew curls tied together to form a double queue. †3. Angling. A kind of artificial fly for salmon-fishing. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > artificial fly > salmon flies salmon fly1704 kingfisher?1758 tartan1837 goldfinch1845 parr-tail1847 baker1848 butcher1860 Jock Scott1866 claret1867 colonel1867 king1867 major1867 Shannon fly1867 wasp1867 chimney-sweep1872 Jack Scott1874 hornet1876 winesop black1876 mystery1880 1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling x. 302 The Major..it is a capital fly. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022). majoradj.n.¹ Brit. /ˈmeɪdʒə/, U.S. /ˈmeɪdʒər/ Forms: Middle English–1500s maiour, Middle English–1600s maior, Middle English– major, 1500s mayonr (transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 maior, pre-1700 maiour, pre-1700 majoer, pre-1700 majore. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin maior, magnus. Etymology: Ultimately < classical Latin maior greater, comparative of magnus great (see magni- comb. form), formed from the same base as magnus and the superlative maximus (see maximum n.). Many English uses (see especially notes below) are probably after the classical Latin word's reflex Middle French, French majeur , earlier (in Old French, Middle French) maieur , maior , maiour , originally object-case forms (perhaps arising as learned variants of maor , maour ) corresponding to subject case maire (from 1080 in sense A. 1a). Compare Old Occitan majer , major (11th cent.), Spanish mayor (1207), Portuguese maior (11th cent.), Italian maggiore (13th cent.); also force majeure n., maire n.¹, mayor n.With major part (see sense A. 3) compare classical Latin maior pars , Old French la maire partie (13th cent.), Middle French, French la majeur partie (1564). With use to designate or denote a person of full age (see senses A. 4 and B. 5) compare post-classical Latin maior (from 2nd or 3rd cent. in legal texts, as adjective and noun), Middle French, French majeur (1549 as adjective and noun). With use in Euclidean mathematics to designate an irrational line (see sense A. 6) compare post-classical Latin linea maior (1509). With use in musical terminology (see sense A. 7) compare post-classical Latin major , in musical senses from 11th cent. in British sources, translated before 17th cent. as greater ; Middle French majeur , in musical terminology from late 14th cent.; French tierce majeur major third (1633). In medical use (see sense A. 10) after scientific Latin epilepsia major (in 19th-cent. medical works), probably itself after French grand mal grand mal n. In use in Logic (see sense B. 1) after post-classical Latin major (from a1225 in British sources, in Grosseteste, Bacon, Ockham, Wyclif, etc.) and Middle French majour (c1354), Middle French, French majeure (from the 14th cent.). In ecclesiastical use, with major orders (see quot. 1728 at sense A. 1a) compare French ordres majeurs (1701); with major excommunication (see quot. 1884¹ at sense A. 1a) compare French excommunication maieure (1636). With sense B. 7a compare post-classical Latin maior (5th cent.), maior monasterii (5th cent.). A. adj. I. Greater in size, importance, etc. 1. a. Designating the greater (in various senses) or relatively greater of or of two things, classes, etc., that have a common designation (opposed to minor). Also: unusually important, serious, or significant; main, chief, principal, leading.In original sense much less common than the corresponding use of minor adj. Now frequently used where a comparative is not really implied. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being better or superior > [adjective] > of two morelOE majorc1390 the world > relative properties > kind or sort > [adjective] > major or minor (of a class) minor1551 major1660 c1390 (?a1300) Stations of Rome (Vernon) (1867) i. l. 475 (MED) At seinte Marie þe maiour [= Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome] þer is a chirche of gret honour. c1460 Ipomedon (Longleat) (1889) 350 There was comen into Calabre a giaunt of lude maior, that hight Leonyn. a1500 Alexander-Cassamus (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Munich) (1911) 380 Tapytes of selk, wrout yn lude maiour. ?1503–5 H. Watson tr. Valentine & Orson (1937) 267.16 Nowe you muste go towarde Ynde the mayonr [read mayour]. 1597 J. Skene De Verborum Significatione at Homagium [Homage] sulde be maid be the vassall being minor, or maior, to his ouer-lorde. 1623 B. Jonson Time Vindicated 121 The vnletter'd Clarke! maior and minor Poet! 1660 J. Trapp (title) A commentary or exposition upon the four major prophets. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Orders Sacred, or Major Orders, we have already observ'd, are three; viz. those of Deacon, Priest, and Bishop. 1807 T. Jefferson Let. 20 June in Writings (1984) 1180 Would the Judge abandon major duties to perform lesser ones? a1854 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. (1855) xii. 405 The letters of Lord Chesterfield make a book of the minor moralities, and the major immoralities of life. 1881 A. Herschel in Nature No. 622. 508 I have here ventured to disown, and to disclaim for myself some of the major accomplishments of meteor-spectroscopy. 1884 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. 359/2 Excommunication The major excommunication deprives of all ecclesiastical communion, and is equivalent in substance to anathema. 1884 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. 541/1 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. 1887 E. A. Freeman 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. 1901 Scotsman 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. 1919 G. B. Shaw Heartbreak House Pref. in Heartbreak House, Great Catherine, & Playlets of War p. xiv Blake and the other major poets. 1934 Sun (Baltimore) 20 Aug. 2/3 A tiny metal mirror..was presented..as..the solution of one of television's major problems. 1964 E. Huxley Back Street New Worlds xv. 150 We've started on the process of digesting our minorities not without hiccoughs and rumbles, but with no major upset. 1966 Listener 3 Feb. 156/2 This is where one begins to get at the real question of the inner meaning of this development. These are very subtle, very major changes. 1975 Daily Tel. 27 Nov. 27/2 (advt.) This French subsidiary of a major international company. 1986 M. Foot Loyalists & Loners 53 Page after page I read, and often..the minor events crowd out the major ones. b. colloquial (originally U.S.). Frequently as an intensifier: bad, serious; big, great; superlative, absolute. Cf. awful adj. 1b, terrible adj. 2a. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] hardOE heavyc1000 highOE highlyOE stourc1275 largec1330 intensec1400 violent1430 profoundc1450 vehementc1485 intensive1526 advanceda1533 vengeable1532 Herculean1602 well-advanced1602 deep1605 dense1732 abysmal1817 intensitive1835 holy1837 high-level1860 major1942 1942 W. Stevens Notes toward Supreme Fiction 40 Out of nothing to have come on major weather. 1975 in J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1997) II. 502/1 You are a major loon! 1982 in J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1997) II. 502/1 I kissed Tommy off in a major way. 1987 D. Koontz Darkfall p. iv It was grody, creepy, but it wasn't big enough to bite her head off or anything major like that. 1988 J. McInerney Story of my Life vii. 121 Emile's a total creep and major reptile anyway. 1991 Sports Illustr. 14 Oct. 99/1 We are talking major sucking up. 1994 City Life (Manchester) 28 Aug.–8 Sept. 17/1 Logic and gravity are of no consequence to the sagging lines..to be worn with..major boots. 2. As postmodifier. a. [The senses of some of the compounds below have probably been influenced by major n.²] Designating someone or something greater or more senior within a given group. In certain compounds adopted from French, as in quart (also quint, tierce) major: see quart n.⁴, quint n.², tierce n.¹; in military titles, as drum major n., sergeant-major n.; and in some ad hoc formations, as inquisitor-major, (humorously) poet-major. Also in bob major: see bob n.⁵ ΚΠ 1540 T. Wyatt Let. 7 Jan. (1963) iv. 126 I woll wryte to the Cardinal of Toledo, that is inquisitor maior, that I may be informid. ?1593 H. Chettle Kind-harts Dreame sig. C2 He whipt her with a foxes taille, Barnes minor, and he whipt her with a foxes taille, Barnes maior. 1616 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor (rev. ed.) i. ii, in Wks. I. 9 One is a Rimer sir, o' your owne batch, your owne leuin; but doth think himselfe Poet-maior, o' the towne. 1659 J. Lamont Diary 17 Feb. (1830) 114 He entered bajan with Mr Ja. Weyms, maior, regent ther. b. Designating the elder or senior of two pupils with the same surname or the first to enter the school (used esp. in British public schools); (also gen.) the elder of two persons with the same surname. Abbreviated as ma (see ma adj.). ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > senior person > [adjective] morelOE senior?a1475 sen.1676 senr.1763 primus1765 ma1791 majorc1823 maximus1848 ?1593 H. Chettle Kind-harts Dreame sig. C2 He whipt her with a foxes taile, Barnes minor, And he whipt her with a foxes taile, Barnes maior. c1823 J. Mordaunt Let. in E. Hamilton Mordaunts (1965) xi. 265 Ashby major the eldest is coming back soon to take leave. 1855 G. Monkland Literature & Literati of Bath Suppl. 22 I had four school-fellows of the name of Hoblyn, Maximus, Major, Minor, and Minimus. 1866 Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. Mar. 146 Brown major had a trick of bringing up unpleasant topics. 1989 Independent 27 Oct. 19/5 A comprehensible but rather superficial treatment of Amis major is followed by a treatment of James Kelman. 3. That constitutes the majority or larger part; usually with part, portion, or other similar nouns. Formerly (rare) in predicative use: †greater in quantity (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [adjective] > constituting main or major part mosteOE muchc1225 main1579 major1593 gross1692 1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie iv. xiii. 204 When they are the major part of a generall assembly. 1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love ii. iii. sig. D4 The most generall, or Maior part of Opinion, goes with the face, & (simply) respects nothing else. View more context for this quotation 1621 H. Elsynge Notes Deb. House of Lords (1870) 85 The House to debate the doubte,..and, if the major part doubte, yt may be re-comitted. 1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 118 For the Major part it is barren. 1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 127 That they all had votes, and that the major number concluded the matter. 1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 85 This Senate chuses..A Rector magnificus out of their own number by major Vote. a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 25 The major part of the City lies between two Hills. 1743 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) III. 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. 1774 T. Hutchinson Diary 3 Oct. (1884) I. 254 A person had the major vote for Alderman... Another person..had the minor vote in the election. 1790 E. Umfreville Present State of Hudson's Bay 16 After wandering about..for the major part of the day. 1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India I. v. ii. 374 The major party deemed it an important article of the duty of the Supreme Council. 1866 A. Crump Pract. Treat. Banking i. 25 It will be found, in by far the major part of these failures. 1904 J. London Sea-wolf v. 46 It was before this steady wind that he hoped to make the major portion of the run to Japan. 1958 R. K. Narayan Guide ii. 25 He kept us in his charge for the major part of the day. 1991 M. Young Inside Job (BNC) 83 It is a daily influx of petty offenders and successfully detected trivia that makes up the major part of the detective's world. †4. a. Chiefly Scottish. Of full age; out of one's minority. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > adult > [adjective] > legal maturity sui juris1590 majorc1600 emancipated1726 c1600 in Balfour's Practicks (1754) 241 The superiour..being ane fre man, male or female, major or minor, clerk or laique man. 1646 J. Howell Lustra Ludovici 27 [It] was an open..attempt upon his authoritie now that he is declar'd Major. a1649 W. Drummond Hist. James II in Wks. (1711) 21 A King of France is declared to be of full Years and Major the Fourteenth of his Age. 1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. ii. 23 At which time I arriv'd to man's estate, and became major. 1787 C. Smith Romance Real Life I. 162 The Chevalier de Villiers being major, might marry Julie de Lalande. 1840 W. M. Thackeray Mr. Deuceace at Paris in Yellowplush Mem. viii We are both major, you know; so that the ceremony of a guardian's consent is unnecessary. 1892 G. R. Gillespie tr. L. von Bar Theory & Pract. Private Internat. Law 312 A Dutch minor, who is by the law of Belgium major, cannot dispose of his real property in Belgium without [etc.]. b. figurative in Scottish proverbial phrase. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1808 R. Forsyth 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’. †5. Paramount to all other claims. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. i. 41 My maior vow lies here; this ile obay. View more context for this quotation II. In technical uses. 6. Mathematics. Designating the irrational sum of two irrational lengths with properties as described in the 39th proposition of the tenth book of Euclid's Elements (see quot. 1908). (Only with reference to or in translations of Euclid's work.) Cf. minor adj. 4a.irrational is used here in Euclid's sense: see irrational adj. 3. ΚΠ 1571 T. Digges in L. Digges's Geom. Pract.: Pantometria ix. sig. X iv ^v If the side of Icosaedron be a line rationall, the dimetient of the comprehending sphere shalbe an irrationall line called Maior. 1571 T. Digges in L. Digges's Geom. Pract.: Pantometria ix. sig. X iv ^v The semi-dimetiente of that circle wheron the body is framed will be an irrationall, called of Euclide Maior. 1908 T. L. Heath tr. Euclid Elem. III. 87 If two straight lines incommensurable in square which make the sum of the squares on them rational, but the rectangle contained by them medial, be added together, the whole straight line is irrational: and let it be called major. 7. Music. a. Of an interval: that is the larger, by a small fraction, of two differently derived versions of the same interval (as major tone, major semitone, major third, etc.) (now historical). Now usually: (of an interval) larger by a semitone than the correlative minor interval; chiefly in major third, major sixth, major seventh, (occasionally major fourth and major fifth, usually called perfect). Hence also: designating the note separated by a major interval from a given note. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [adjective] > major plain1445 perfecta1450 greater1597 major1653 sharp1694 1653 Ld. Brouncker tr. R. Descartes Excellent Compend. Musick 30 A certaine Fraction, which may be the difference betwixt a Tone major and a Tone minor, which we nominate a Schism. 1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony iv. 64 If A to B, be as 5 to 4, they sound a Ditone, or Third Major. 1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony iv. 66 ⁴/ ₅ sound a Third Major,..³/ ₅ a Sixth Major. 1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony vi. 150 In Diatonic Music, there is but one Sort of Hemitone..called Hemitone Major; whose Ration is 16 to 15... There are two Sorts of Tones; viz. Major, and Minor. 1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony vi. 185 7th. Major..15 to 8. 1742 R. North & M. North Life F. North 298 He makes great Ado about dividing Tones Major, Tones Minor, Dieses and Commas, with the Quantities of them. 1761 Philos. Trans. 1760 (Royal Soc.) 51 772 He..affirming..that the Dorian mode answered exactly to our A-mi-la with a minor third, and the Phrygian to our A-mi-la with a major third. 1806 J. W. Callcott Musical Gram. ii. i. 98 The Major Second..does not consist of two equal parts. 1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 242/2 The pertinacity with which professors adhere to the expression perfect fifth and perfect fourth, and abhor the term major fifth and major fourth. 1900 Grove's Dict. Music II. 200/2 The term ‘major’ is also used in a theoretical sense of tones, to distinguish the interval of a tone which has the ratio 9:8 from that which has the ratio 10:9, which is called a minor tone. For example, in the key of C, C–D is a major tone and D–E a minor one, and the difference between them is a comma. 1939 Scrutiny 7 iv. 398 The vocal descriptions (by means of leaps of major sevenths, quarter tones, shouts, croaks and glissandi)..are open to the same criticism. 1993 M. Kennedy Britten (rev. ed.) xxii. 186 The work's Urtmotiv , a minor-within-major third heard in the opening bars. b. Of a key: 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.) ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [adjective] > tonality > major key sharp1694 major1786 1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music at Key The natural keys of C major and A minor. 1848 E. F. Rimbault First Bk. Pianoforte 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. 1887 R. Browning C. Avison in Parleyings xiii Blare it forth, bold C major! c. Of a scale: with semitones above the third and seventh notes. ΚΠ 1866 C. Engel Introd. Study National Music ii. 25 The major and minor scales. 1964 Conc. Oxf. Dict. Music 320/1 The first 3 notes of every major scale are called fa-sol-la. d. Of a common chord or triad: containing a major third between the root and the second note; of a cadence: ending on such a chord. ΚΠ 1929 W. W. Cobbett Cycl. Surv. Chamber Music I. 44/1 Each of these combinations may take the following four different forms according as one or the other triad is major or minor. 1989 Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida (Yearbk.) 40/1 The first movement's principal theme begins prosaically by outlining an E-flat major triad. 8. Early Music. (a) In the perfect or imperfect mode: designating or relating to the relationship between the large and the long, as opposed to that between the long and the breve. (b) Designating or relating to that type of prolation in which there is an equivalence of three minims to a semibreve; cf. perfect adj. 10a. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [adjective] > types of proportion proportionate?a1505 imperfectc1570 perfect1588 retorted1597 retortive1597 imperfectible1609 major?1779 minor?1779 ?1779 W. Waring tr. J.-J. Rousseau Compl. Dict. Music 242 The major perfect mode was marked with three lines, each of which filled three spaces of the stave; and three others, which filled only two. Under this mode the maximum was equal to three longues. ?1779 W. Waring tr. J.-J. Rousseau Compl. Dict. Music 243 The major imperfect mode was marked by two lines, each of which crossed three spaces, and two others which crossed only two, and in that case the maximum two longues only [sic]. 1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. at Mensurable Division of the large into longs was called major mode..; of the semibreve into minims, prolation (added later, and sometimes confusingly called major or minor, instead of ‘perfect’ or ‘imperfect’). 1957 C. Parrish Notation Medieval Mus. vi. 144 The prolation was at first indicated by three dots within the circle for major (perfect) prolation. 1980 New Grove Dict. Music XIII. 362 The semibreve could be either ‘major’ or ‘minor’. 1984 O. B. Ellsworthy tr. Berkeley Manuscript 151 ‘Major’ is taken with respect to the relationship of maximae to longae. 1986 Early Music 14 356/1 According to 15th-century practices..the major/minor indicated the prolation. †9. Prosody. Designating the longer of two types of verse bearing a common name. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [adjective] > longer of two types with same name major1821 1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 10 388 The third foot of the major ionic tetrameter. 1883 G. A. Simcox Hist. Lat. Lit. II. 356 St. Agnes, whose legend is given in very spirited major alcaics. 10. Medicine. Designating epilepsy of the grand mal type; (later also) designating a generalized tonic–clonic seizure (characteristic of but not exclusive to this type of epilepsy). ΚΠ a1883 C. H. Fagge Princ. & Pract. Med. (1886) I. 683 An attack of major epilepsy..does not always conform strictly to the above description. 1891 F. Taylor Man. Pract. Med. (ed. 2) 290 Epilepsy occurs in two well-marked forms, described as major and minor attacks... The major attack consists of the fully developed fit, with coma and violent convulsion. 1943 Lancet 6 Nov. 578/2 Petit mal or slow-wave activity is less amenable to phenobarbitone and other anticonvulsants than are major fits. 1949 Progress Neurol. & Psychiatry 4 414 Narcoleptic sleep,..major convulsions, or other ‘epileptic’ symptoms. 1975 Neurology 25 935 All values were normal in five patients studied more than 4 days after a major seizure. 1991 Jrnl. Pakistan Med. Assoc. 41 135/2 It is difficult to differentiate between ‘benign febrile convulsions’ and major epilepsy attacks precipitated by fever. 1998 Amer. Jrnl. Nephrol. 18 557 The patient had a major seizure, progressive psychiatric signs and fever 5 days prior to admission. B. n.¹ I. Something regarded as greater or more significant than a counterpart. 1. Logic. A major term or premise. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > premise(s) > major or first premise major1530 proposition1532 major proposition1533 sumption1656 major premise1728 propositum1858 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 467/1 Of that major graunted he brought in foure or fyve conclusions. 1532 T. More Let. Impugnynge J. Fryth in Wks. 840/2 In this argument hee begynneth with (shoulde) in the maior, and than in the minor and the conclusion turneth into (can). 1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 168 b I deny the Major of this Arguement. In the Minor I distinguish this word Necessitie. 1634 J. Canne Necessitie of Separation ii. 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. 1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse v. 94 Thou art out in thy Logick. Thy major is true, but thy minor is false. 1717 M. Prior Alma iii. 78 Can syllogism set things right? No: majors soon with minors fight. 1788 T. Reid Aristotle's Logic iv. §3 Converting the major by contraposition. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. x. 629 They cared little whether their major agreed with their conclusion. 1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic vii. 198 The violation of this last Rule, in respect to the Major Term, is called illicit process of the Major. 1906 J. N. Keynes Stud. & Exerc. Formal Logic (ed. 4) iii. vi. 365 Taking the simple constructive dilemma given above, and contrapositing the major. 1972 I. M. Copi Introd. Logic (ed. 4) vi. 201 The argument is said to commit the fallacy of Illicit Process of the Major Term (or, more briefly, the Illicit Major). 2. Music. A major interval, key, scale, etc. Cf. sense A. 7. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > key > major key major1667 1667 C. Simpson Compend. Pract. Musick 54 Imperfect Concords afford more variety upon accompt of their Majors and Minors. 1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 547 (note) Such another piece [is]..upon C, with sol, ut, and its major. 1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 360 The transition..from any Minor key to its relative Major. 1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 363 A Minor key [may be said to be related] to the same key in the Major. 1880 E. Gurney Power of Sound 271 Modern harmonists are unwilling to acknowledge that the minor triad is less consonant than the major. 1944 D. Tovey Chamber Music xvi. 170 In the next pair of variations, we return to the major, with a lively anapest rhythm. 3. Originally U.S. In a university, college, etc.: a student's special or principal subject or course; a student specializing in a particular subject. ΘΚΠ society > education > learning > study > subject or object of study > [noun] > major or minor subject major1890 minor1890 society > education > learning > learner > college or university student > [noun] > specializing student major1949 1878 Johns Hopkins Univ. Reg. in Hist. Educ. Q. (1961) 1 No. 2. 58 The major course must be followed in any subject which the candidate offers as one of his two chief departments of work.] 1890 in 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. 1907 Columbia Univ. Catal. Mar. Open only to students taking a major in the Department of English. 1926 Amer. Oxonian July 100 Oxford is a school for specialists. There are no minors, no electives, nothing but majors. 1949 Daily 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. 1961 New Statesman 3 Mar. 338 In English Studies the ‘major’ could be English literature. 1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) i. i. 27 Conferences with their college advisors about their possible choice of majors. 1989 J. C. Eccles Evol. Brain ix. 198 She was a music major and an accomplished pianist. 4. Sport. a. Baseball. = major league n. 1. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > league big league1882 minor league1885 little league1886 major league1888 major1911 Babe Ruth1953 1911 Baseball Mag. Oct. 25 (caption) Only those States are shown which have representation..of the three leading baseball organizations namely, the Majors, the Class A or the class B leagues. 1931 Durant (Oklahoma) Daily Democrat 25 July 6/3 Its becoming commonplace in the majors today. 1949 Newsweek 18 July 64/3 The majors' youngest team (average age 24) might have its ups and downs. 1967 N. Mailer Cannibals & Christians i. 70 The majors would have eighty-two baseball teams in each league. b. = major penalty n. at Compounds. ΚΠ 1925 Gazette (Montreal) 17 Dec. 16/1 (heading) Broadbent and Conacher given majors for fighting—Munro scored his first goal. 1964 F. Mahovlich Ice Hockey vii. 41 Under National Hockey League rules..the penalised player is permitted to return to the ice from a minor just as soon as the non-offending team scores a goal... If the penalized player is serving a major..though, he must serve full time. c. (a) Australian Rules Football. A goal, scored when the ball is kicked between the goalposts, and earning six points; (b) Canadian Football a touchdown (as opposed to a field goal). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [noun] > actions exchange1604 measuring cast1647 winner1811 glovework1822 piledriver1858 cockshot1861 legwork1868 footwork1871 winning stroke1884 teamwork1885 benching1904 three-sixty1927 wrong-footing1928 power play1932 major1951 sharpshooting1976 1951 Football Record (Melbourne) 8 Sept. 18 They opened with four behinds, and then rattled on sixteen majors. 1969 Sun-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. 1970 Globe & 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. 1991 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Nov. c8/1 Toronto defensive back Ed Berry returned Barrett's first pass attempt 50 yards for a major. d. A major tournament, championship, etc. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > types of all comersc1450 after-gamea1500 fore-game1594 revenge1616 plate1639 set-to1743 return match1753 bye1754 scrub-race1791 anybody's game (also race, match)1826 return1834 barney1843 bonspiel1858 handicap1861 pennant1865 home-and-home1868 benefit match1871 run-off1873 international1877 American tournament1878 Grand Prix1879 single1884 friendly1885 all-comers1889 pair1890 championship1893 round robin1894 replay1895 Olympiad1896 junior varsity1902 lightning tournament1903 rematch1903 road trip1903 pickup1905 freestyle1906 marathon1908 test1908 Derby1909 scrimmage1910 eliminator1911 twosome1911 triala1914 quadrangular1916 slug-fest1916 varsity match1921 needle contest1922 curtain jerker1923 needle match1923 open1926 needle fight1927 knock-out1928 shirt1930 masters1933 pro-amateur1934 tune-up1934 World Cup1934 pro-am1937 state1941 sizzler1942 runathon1943 mismatch1954 run-out1955 match-up1959 squeaker1961 triple-header1961 Super Bowl1967 invitational1968 needle game1970 major1976 slobberknocker1986 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 17 June 1– h/5 He has one major to his credit, the '73 British Open. 1992 Chess Monthly Sept. 5/3 In the Major, H. Gilmartin St Asaph and P. Naylor Preston won with 4½/5. II. Personal and related uses. †5. A person of full age. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > adult > [noun] major1615 adult1655 grown-up1799 full-growner1867 1615 J. Castle in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) I. 431 Every man that is once knighted is ipso-facto made a major, and sui juris. 1656 in J. A. Clyde Hope's Major Practicks (1938) II. 175 If any major succeid. 1754 J. Shebbeare Marriage Act II. lxix. 321 In France..the Major, whether Man or Woman, who marries a Minor, is punished with Death. 1836 T. Hood Coming of Age in Comic Ann. 86 I'm free to give my I O U, Sign, draw, accept, as majors do. 6. A major individual or member of a specified class. In modern use esp., a major company, organization, etc. Cf. sense A. 1. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > one who is important > one who is more important morec1275 major1626 organ-grinder1957 1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §839 (margin) Experiment Solitary, touching Alterations, which may be called Maiors. 1660 Trial Regic. 12 If He [sc. the King] be Supreme, there is neither Major, nor Superior. 1897 Daily News 20 Mar. 5/2 The minors [sc. poets], and many who esteem themselves majors, are constantly on offer. 1954 Billboard 5 June 14 Majors and subsids switch to 45s for Pops to Deejays. 1968 Wall 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.’ 1974 Spartanburg (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. 1988 Daily Tel. 5 Mar. (Weekend Suppl.) p. xv/2 The return policies operated by the majors make it impossible to stock every record released. †7. a. Oxford University. An official of the University. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1721 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius 15 Feb. Having saunter'd a pretty while along the Quadrangle, impatient of the Lecturers Delay, I asked the Major (who is an Officer belonging to the Schools) whether it was usual now and then to slip a Lecture or so. b. Christian Church. The superior in certain brotherhoods. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1756 A. Butler Lives Saints I. 267 They [sc. monks of the Order of Camaldoli] call their superiour, Major. 1883 P. Schaff et al. Relig. Encycl. II. 1025/1 Even the smaller ones [sc. brotherhoods of hospitallers] had their superior or major. Compounds major arcana n. [after French arcanes majeurs (1889)] (with plural or singular agreement) the principal cards of the tarot pack, each of which has a particular symbolic significance in cartomancy; cf. minor arcana n. at minor adj. and n. Compounds 2. ΚΠ 1892 A. P. Morton tr. ‘Papus’ Tarot Bohemians v. 35 The Tarot is composed of 78 cards..56 cards called the minor arcana, 22 cards called the major arcana. 1931 J. C. Locke tr. É.-J. Grillot de Givry Witchcraft, Magic & Alchemy ii. vii. 282 Cartomancers divide their packs more elaborately into two series which they call the Major Arcana, numbering twenty-two cards, and the Minor Arcana, numbering fifty-six—or fifty-two according to some conventions. 1986 R. Pollack Teach yourself Fortune Telling iv. 72 Most people who interpret the Major Arcana as a sequence divide it up in some way. Some see it as two halves with the break coming at the Wheel of Fortune. The first half deals with the outer concerns of life, such as career, marriage, and the achievement of success and power. At a certain point we will realize the limitations of such things and turn inward on a quest for self-knowledge, represented by the second half. major axis n. Geometry the axis of a conic section, which passes through the foci, esp. the longer axis of an ellipse; also called principal axis, transverse axis. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > planet > planetary movement > [noun] > orbit > major axis major axis1840 the world > relative properties > number > geometry > geometric space > [noun] > division or marking of > axis > passing through foci principal axis1704 transverse axis1704 transverse1743 longitudinal axis1744 focal axis1794 major axis1840 1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 492/1 The major axis of the isometrical projection of a circle is equal to the side of the circumscribing square. 1885 C. Leudesdorf tr. L. Cremona Elements Projective 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. 1969 T. R. McGuire & P. J. Flanders in A. E. Berkowitz & E. Kneller Magnetism & Metall. I. iv. 145 The reflected light is elliptically polarized with the major axis of the ellipse rotated with respect to the original axis of the light. 1992 Astron. Now July 16/2 The spot was 0.22 magnitudes fainter than the Moon's crescent and..its shape was not circular but rather elliptical, with its major axis along the terminator. major circle n. †(a) = great circle n. at circle n. 2a (obsolete); (b) Geometry a circle that encloses an ellipse and has a diameter coincident with its major axis. ΚΠ 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 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. View more context for this quotation 1933 J. M. Child Elem. Coordinate Geom. xiii. 196 These two circles are of very great importance in the geometry of the ellipse; they are known as the major and minor auxiliary circles.] 1961 L. J. Adams & P. A. White Analytic Geom. & Calculus vii. 253 The circle of radius b is the minor auxiliary circle, and the circle of radius a is the major auxiliary circle. From O draw a line intersecting the minor circle at A and the major circle at B. 1989 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 943/2 A circle around the ellipse with O as its centre and a radius a is called the major circle or auxiliary circle. major depression n. Psychiatry the mental condition depression in a severe or full-blown form, typically characterized by occurring in distinct episodes lasting for at least 2 weeks, by impairment of cognitive and social or occupational functioning, and by disturbances of appetite and sleep; (occasionally also) an instance of episode of this. ΚΠ 1947 Year Bk. Neurol., Psychiatry & Neurosurgery 1946 352 Forty-one [patients] had highly neurotic, unstable or alcoholic parents, and 18, near relatives with a history of major depression. 1974 G. F. Gilder Naked Nomads i. 16 There is no question that even beyond major depression and chronic disease conditions, the group of single men between twenty-five and sixty-five is in bad shape psychologically. 1994 N.Y. Times 11 Jan. c10/2 Children who experience an episode of minor depression were found to have a high likelihood of suffering from a major depression within two years—a so-called ‘double depression’. 2018 S. Barton & P. Armstrong CBT for Depression (e-book, accessed 30 Sept. 2021) ii. 35 Because major depression is a recurring problem, it is essential to help clients prepare for challenges after their regular sessions have finished. major diameter n. Engineering the outer or larger diameter of an object, esp. a screw thread. ΚΠ 1924 J. A. Moyer et al. in L. S. Marks Mech. Engin. Handbk. (ed. 2) xv. 1853 The maximum and minimum major and minor diameters are the same for all screws of a given size for all classes of fit. 1951 Engineering 21 Sept. 369/3 A screw thread has..seven elements of shape and size: major diameter, minor diameter, effective diameter, pitch, flank angles, [etc.]. 1991 Metalworking Production Sept. (Quality Suppl.) q7/2 Sized 0.001in below bottom limit, the gauge is aligned with a slight shake to measure major diameter across two points. major element n. spec. a chemical element that is present or required in relatively large amounts; (Biology) = macronutrient n.; (Geology) an element that constitutes more than 5 per cent of a rock. ΚΠ 1950 Proc. Royal Soc. Canada 44 227 Spectrographic methods of determination of the major elements of rocks have been developed in an attempt to supplement more costly and time-consuming chemical analyses. 1950 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Add. Major element = Macronutrient. 1952 A. M. Smith Manures & Fertilisers viii. 190 In the past, attention was directed exclusively to the major elements and the physical condition of the soil, so that a disorder in the plant which could not be explained in terms of a major deficiency or an attack by fungus or insect had to be dismissed as ‘soil-sickness’. 1964 Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta 28 793 Forty-two tektites and two ‘amerikanites’ were..analysed for major elements. 1993 Jrnl. Petrol. 34 472 The major elements plus Rb, Sr, and Ni were determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) methods. Major Fellow n. [compare post-classical Latin socius senior (17th cent. in a British source in an academic context); compare earlier Senior Fellow at senior adj. 2b] Cambridge University (now historical) (at Trinity College) a fellow who has proceeded to the degree of M.A.; a senior fellow. ΚΠ 1670 I. Walton Life G. Herbert 21 in Lives He was made Minor Fellow in the year 1609... Major Fellow of the Colledge, March 15. 1615. 1896 Dict. National Biogr. XLVII. 323/2 He was elected minor fellow of Trinity College 3 Oct. 1836, and major fellow 3 July 1838. major histocompatibility complex n. Immunology a group of tightly linked, highly polymorphic genes coding especially for cell surface antigens involved in the regulation of the immune response in vertebrates; frequently attributive, designating proteins encoded by these genes; abbreviated MHC. ΚΠ 1971 Cellular Immunol. 2 517 (heading) A new interpretation of the major histocompatibility gene complexes of man and mouse.] 1972 Transplant Proc. 4 451 (heading) Lymphocyte-defined differences of the major histocompatibility complex. 1989 Jrnl. Autoimmunity 2 740 It is believed that activation of Ts cells requires the recognition of antigen in association with class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules while helper cells are Class II-MHC restricted. 1997 Ann. Thoracic Surg. 64 1019 Cardiac allografts were heterotopically transplanted across a major histocompatibility complex class I barrier in partially inbred miniature swine and monitored for rejection by serial biopsies, electrocardiograms, and echocardiograms. major histocompatibility locus n. Immunology (a) = major histocompatibility complex n.; (b) any individual locus of the major histocompatibility complex. ΚΠ 1967 Trans. Assoc. Amer. Physicians 80 142 (title) Induction of simultaneous immunological paralysis and sensitization to different antigenic activities controlled by the major histocompatibility locus in the adult mouse. 1968 Jrnl. Exper. Med. 128 1 (title) Genetic control of the antibody response in inbred mice. Transfer of response by spleen cells and linkage to the major histocompatibility (H-2) locus. 1992 Nat. Hist. Feb. 44/1 About fifty in number, these genes, clustered on chromosome 17 in mice and its equivalent in other vertebrates, are known as the major histocompatibility locus, or Mhc. 1992 Transplantation 54 694 Much lower rates of rejection were obscured..when the donors of the grafts differed from recipients at class I and/or class II major histocompatibility loci. major junior n. Canadian Ice Hockey the top level of junior competition; chiefly attributive. ΚΠ 1970 Hockey News 9 Oct. 27/1 The long-standing circuit has relented and altered its name as the result of the new junior hockey setup in Canada and will henceforth be known as the ‘Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A League’. 1993 Hockey News (Toronto) 5 Feb. 12/5 The acid test for..major junior hockey's powers as a drawing card..will be next season. major penalty n. Ice Hockey a penalty requiring the player to leave the ice for five minutes; cf. minor penalty n. at minor adj. and n. Compounds 2. ΚΠ 1925 Gazette (Montreal) 14 Dec. 18/2 The pair started a jabbing bee which ended in them both drawing major penalties just as the game ended. 1963 Calgary (Alberta) Herald 11 Nov. 9/2 Alex Faulkner was in the penalty box serving a major penalty for high-sticking Montreal's Ralph Backstrom and drawing blood. 1993 Hockey News (Toronto) 5 Feb. 11/2 Major penalties must be served in full, even if the opposing team scores while a player is in the penalty box. major piece n. Chess a queen or rook; cf. minor piece n. at minor adj. and n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > pieces > superior pieces nobility1656 nobleman1656 officer1805 major piece1945 1945 E. Lasker Mod. Chess Strategy i. i. 6 Knight and Bishop are called ‘minor pieces’ in contrast to the more mobile Rook and Queen, the ‘major pieces’. 1974 F. Brady Chess 15 Knights and Bishops are called minor pieces, while Queens and Rooks are referred to as major pieces. 1984 Oxf. Compan. Chess 199 Major piece, the queen or the rook. Either can force mate when there are no other men but kings on the board. major planet n. Astronomy (a) = giant planet n. at giant n. and adj. Additions; (b) each of the larger bodies which orbit the sun (in order of increasing distance from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto). ΚΠ 1846 D. Lardner Pop. Lect. Sci. & Art I. 143 The planets..will naturally be classed in three distinct groups, the first of which we shall call the minor planets, the second the new planets, and the third the major planets. 1869 E. Dunkin Midnight Sky 278 It is very probable that Neptune is furnished with several moons, in like manner with the other major planets. 1902 G. F. Chambers Story Solar Syst. i. 10 The following is an enumeration of the major planets in the order of their distances, reckoning from the Sun outwards:– 1. Mercury. 2. Venus. 3. The Earth [etc.]. 1954 C. Payne-Gaposchkin Introd. Astron. viii. 177 The major planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are all large, of low density, and surrounded by huge atmospheres. 1991 C. A. Ronan Nat. Hist. Universe 40/2 The Sun's family comprises nine major planets and scores of moons. major player n. a leading figure in a particular field; (Business) a leading competitor in a particular market. ΚΠ 1963 Internat. Organization 17 ii. 415 In a multipolar system a lesser unit can become a major player if it plays the game well enough; in a bipolar one a lesser state, in order to become a big contender, must change the rules of the game. 1977 Business Week (Industr. ed.) (Nexis) 21 Nov. 102 Litton Industries Inc., the giant conglomerate, has quietly shut down its effort. Two major players..have lost vital ground in the last year or two. 1993 Globe & Mail Rep. on Business Apr. 63 Eicon Technology..is fast becoming a major player in the highly competitive world of computer networking. major point n. Rugby (now historical) a goal (opposed to minor point, i.e. a try). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > scoring touch1845 run-in1846 rouge1856 touchdown1856 touch-in-goal1869 try1870 minor1883 minor point1884 pot1888 major point1896 penalty try1922 conversion1927 pushover1940 1896 Field 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. major premise n. (also major premiss) Logic the premise that contains the major term of a syllogism. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > premise(s) > major or first premise major1530 proposition1532 major proposition1533 sumption1656 major premise1728 propositum1858 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Syllogism They [sc. the two propositions of a syllogism] are both called..Premises..and..both are called Antecedents, only the first the Major, and the latter the Minor. 1821 J. Walker Familiar Comm. Compend. Logic Dublin (ed. 4) 92 If they be both affirmative, the middle term must be universal in the major premiss, and its subject. 1871 J. Morley Carlyle in Crit. Misc. (1878) 168 A man of genius is at liberty to assume all his major premisses. 1909 W. James Mem. & Stud. (1911) viii. 186 The major premise is: ‘Any spirit-revelation must be romantic.’ The minor of the spiritist is: ‘This is romantic.’ 1954 A. Huxley Doors of Perception 48 If one began with fear and hate as the major premiss, one would have to go on to the conclusion. 2002 M. Joseph Trivium 158 We find the Aristotelian sorites, which places the minor premise first, much more comfortable than the Goclenian sorites, which places the major premise first. major proposition n. Logic = major premise n. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > premise(s) > major or first premise major1530 proposition1532 major proposition1533 sumption1656 major premise1728 propositum1858 1533 J. Frith Bk. answeringe Mores Let. sig. Gvj Now of this maior or first proposition thus vnderstand doth the conclusion follow directlye. 1661 A. Cowley Vision Cromwell 41 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. 1863 A. Trollope Rachel Ray I. ix. 185 She felt that any word of assent, though given by her to a minor proposition, might be taken as involving some amount of assent towards the major proposition. major road n. chiefly British a principal road, esp. one classified as an A road or a B road; phrase major road ahead (used on British road signs until 1967). ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > main or major road great road1614 high road1620 main road1741 highway1837 traffic artery1845 trunk road1848 main-way1862 arterial road1886 primary roada1903 route1912 arterial1920 major road1930 spine road1961 1930 Highway Code 7 It is the duty of a driver on a minor road when approaching a major road to go dead slow. 1937 R. F. Broad Motor Driving made Easy (ed. 6) v. 61 The Halt at Major Road Ahead sign..enforces a definite standstill upon road users. 1972 A. Draper Death Penalty v. 37 Hudson drove the car at full speed, not even bothering to halt at the major road ahead. major suit n. Bridge the suit of spades or hearts. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > bridge > [noun] > suits major suit1913 minor suit1916 minor1927 1913 F. Irwin Auction High-lights 95 A preëmptive opening-bid in a major suit means that the bidder wants no information and wishes to play the hand of his own suit. 1973 Country Life 13 Dec. 2048/1 Many pairs reached Six Diamonds, which is an inferior contract... It scores less than the major suit slam. major term n. Logic a term that occurs as the predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > conclusion > major or minor term of major term1599 the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > term of a proposition > [noun] > predicate > related terms major term1599 1599 T. Blundeville Art of Logike 118 The one is called the Maior terme. 1774 T. Reid Aristotle's Logic iii. §2 The major term is always the predicate of the conclusion. 1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic vii. 198 The violation of this last Rule, in respect to the Major Term, is called illicit process of the Major. 1972 I. M. Copi Introd. Logic (ed. 4) vi. 201 The argument is said to commit the fallacy of Illicit Process of the Major Term (or, more briefly, the Illicit Major). major tranquillizer n. Medicine any of a group of psychoactive drugs (now more commonly known as antipsychotics or neuroleptics) used chiefly to treat psychotic disorders, esp. schizophrenia. ΚΠ 1959 New Scientist 31 Dec. 1353/1 The psychotherapeutic drugs fall at present into two classes: those that mend schizophrenia—the major tranquillizers, ataractics and neuroleptics: and those that relieve psychotic depression. 1976 Amer. Jrnl. Psychiatry 133 83/1 Major tranquilizers included chlorpromazine, trifluoperazine, thiothixene, fluphenazine, prochlorperazine, acetophenazine, chlorprothixene, perphenazine, and haloperidol. 1991 E. Currie Dope & Trouble p. xxi Periodically, a nurse appears with a tray of medications, ranging from antibiotics for the endemic minor infections the kids bring to the Hall, to a battery of ‘antipsychotic’ drugs and major tranquilizers. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online June 2022). majorv.¹ Brit. /ˈmeɪdʒə/, U.S. /ˈmeɪdʒər/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: major n.² Etymology: < major n.² 1. intransitive. Chiefly Scottish. To walk with an air of importance; to strut. Also with about, up and down. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > in stately or affected manner prancea1398 jeta1400 prankc1450 strut1518 stalk1530 jotc1560 brank1568 piaffe1593 strit1597 swagger1600 stretch1619 prig1623 flutter1690 prink1696 jut1763 strunt1789 straddle1802 major1814 cakewalk1890 sashay1968 1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xix. 290 Mr. Waverley's wearied wi' majoring yonder afore the muckle pier-glass. View more context for this quotation 1821 W. Scott Pirate III. iii. 53 She..majors up and down my house as if she was mistress of it. 1832 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well (new ed.) xx. 231 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? 1892 Monthly Packet May 548 The African dove..goes ‘majoring’ about to very lively tunes of its own. †2. transitive. To bully, domineer over. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of being intimidating > intimidate or bully [verb (transitive)] awec1225 bashc1375 palla1393 argh1393 formengea1400 matea1400 boasta1522 quail1526 brag1551 appale1563 browbeat1581 adaw1590 overdare1590 dastard1593 strike1598 disdare1612 cowa1616 dare1619 daw1631 bounce1640 dastardize1645 intimidate1646 hector1664 out-hector1672 huff1674 bully1685 harass1788 bullyraga1790 major1829 haze1851 bullock1875 to push (someone) around1900 to put the frighteners in, on1958 psych1963 vibe1979 1829 Examiner 17/1 In majoring, hectoring, and bullying subalterns, he will be found peremptory enough. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022). majorv.² Brit. /ˈmeɪdʒə/, U.S. /ˈmeɪdʒər/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: major adj. Etymology: < major adj. (compare sense 3 at that entry). Originally U.S. 1. intransitive. To study or qualify in a subject as a principal course at a university, college, etc. With in. ΘΚΠ society > education > learning > study > [verb (intransitive)] > study specific course major1918 minor1930 1918 M. L. Robinson Curriculum of Woman's College (U.S. Bureau Educ. Bull. No. 6) 114 A student who has majored in English and zoology may write a book on zoology which is wholly worthless. 1924 P. 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. 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions i. i. 7 As a youth in a New England college he had..majored in classical poetry. 1965 Listener 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. 1973 Amer. Notes & Queries 83/1 For both B.A. and M.A., Eliot majored in literature. 1991 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 9 Feb. 4/7 [He] told the court he intended majoring in peace and conflict studies at university this year. 2. intransitive. In extended use. To specialize in, to focus or lay stress on. ΚΠ 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Sept. 502/2 He majored in forgery and illegal entry inside several specially recommended prisons. 1983 Family July 27/2 The Bible majors on love—as of course Jesus does—but its answer to that question is a firm ‘No’. 1985 Audio Visual Feb. 21/1 AVL, in pole position at the front of the hall, majored on its new improved Starburst graphics system. 1994 Guardian 24 Sept. (Weekend Suppl.) 23/2 Like all people who major on the theme of catastrophic expectation, Heller plots his life with scrupulous attention to detail. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.²1575adj.n.¹c1390v.¹1814v.²1918
随便看	ridingspear ridlaik ridley ridley turtle ridleys ridotto ridottos rids ridup ridwork rie riebeckite riedel riedel's lobe riedel's struma riegel riel riel rebellion riels riem riem chain riem-chained riem-seated riemann riemann curvature

majorn.2

majoradj.n.1

Compounds

majorv.1

majorv.2

majorn.²

majoradj.n.¹

majorv.¹

majorv.²