a commissioned military officer ranking next below a lieutenant colonel and next above a captain.
one of superior rank, ability, etc., in a specified class.
Education.
a subject or field of study chosen by a student to represent their principal interest and upon which a large share of their efforts are concentrated.
History was my major in college.
a student engaged in such study.
a person of full legal age (opposed to minor).
Music. a major interval, chord, scale, etc.
the majors,
Sports. the major leagues.
He coached in the majors as well as in the minors.
the companies or organizations that lead or control a particular field of activity.
the oil majors.
greater in size, extent, or importance.
the major part of the town.
great, as in rank or importance: a major artist.
a major political issue;
a major artist.
serious or risky.
a major operation.
of or relating to the majority.
the major opinion.
of full legal age.
Music.
(of an interval) being between the tonic and the second, third, sixth, or seventh degrees of a major scale: a major sixth.
a major third;
a major sixth.
(of a chord) having a major third between the root and the note next above it.
pertaining to the subject in which a student takes the most courses.
Her major field is English history.
(initial capital letter) (of one of two male students in an English public school who have the same surname) being the elder or higher in standing.
Hobbes Major is not of a scientific bent.
Clarence, born 1936, U.S. novelist and poet.
John, born 1943, British political leader: prime minister 1990–97.
military an officer immediately junior to a lieutenant colonel
a person who is superior in a group or class
a large or important company
the oil majors
(often preceded by the) music a major key, chord, mode, or scale
the principal field of study of a student at a university, etc
his major is sociology
a student who is studying a particular subject as his principal field
a sociology major
a person who has reached the age of legal majority
logic a major term or premise
a principal or important record company, film company, etc
(plural) the major leagues
larger in extent, number, etc
the major part
of greater importance or priority
very serious or significant
a major disaster
main, chief, or principal
of, involving, or making up a majority
music
(of a scale or mode) having notes separated by the interval of a whole tone, except for the third and fourth degrees, and seventh and eighth degrees, which are separated by a semitone
relating to or employing notes from the major scale
a major key
(postpositive) denoting a specified key or scale as being major
C major
denoting a chord or triad having a major third above the root
(in jazz) denoting a major chord with a major seventh added above the root
logic constituting the major term or major premise of a syllogism
of or relating to a student's principal field of study at a university, etc
the elder: used after a schoolboy's surname if he has one or more younger brothers in the same school
Price major
of full legal age
(postpositive) Leisure:Bell-ringing of, relating to, or denoting a method rung on eight bells
to do one's principal study (in a particular subject)
to major in English literature
to take or deal with as the main area of interest
the book majors on the peasant dishes
See capital 1.
First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin, comparative of magnus “great, large”; replacing Middle English maio(u)r, majour, from Anglo-French, from Latin, as above; see origin at majesty
Something major is big, big, big! It's major, baby! It's large! Important! Intense! Powerful! Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" was major, eventually becoming the biggest-selling album of all time. A victory of 98 to 3 might well be called major. If you're a musician, you're probably also familiar with the difference between a minor scale and a major scale. A major scale sounds happy, while a minor one sounds sad. The discovery of life on another planet? Major. Getting into the college of your choice? Major. For everything else, there's "ordinary."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"These particles are a major driver of plaque buildup in the arteries," said senior author Zhao Zhang, Ph.D.,
From Science Daily • May 25, 2026
Along the Cuyahoga River—famous for catching fire in 1969 after decades of pollution, prompting a major cleanup effort—the Cleveland Clinic and the Cavaliers basketball team are jointly developing a new sports-medicine clinic.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
While that was a positive, it still goes down in the books as another early exit at one of the sport's four major tournaments.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
Equities continued their recent strength, as all three major indexes rose more than 0.4%, buoyed by optimism over a peace deal to end the Iran war.
From Barron's • May 24, 2026
Picasso was about to make a major advance in his art—a leap so far forward that few would appreciate what he was trying to do.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
