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• major
  major

  noun

  a commissioned military officer ranking next below a lieutenant colonel and next above a captain.
• Major
  Major

  noun

  Clarence, born 1936, U.S. novelist and poet.

major

¹ American  

[may-jer] / ˈmeɪ dʒər /

noun

• majors
  plural

1. a commissioned military officer ranking next below a lieutenant colonel and next above a captain.

2. one of superior rank, ability, etc., in a specified class.

3. Education.

   1. 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.

   2. a student engaged in such study.

4. a person of full legal age (opposed to minor).

5. Music. a major interval, chord, scale, etc.

6. the majors,

   1. Sports. the major leagues.

      He coached in the majors as well as in the minors.

   2. the companies or organizations that lead or control a particular field of activity.

      the oil majors.

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adjective

1. greater in size, extent, or importance.

   the major part of the town.

2. great, as in rank or importance: a major artist.

   a major political issue;

   a major artist.

3. serious or risky.

   a major operation.

4. of or relating to the majority.

   the major opinion.

5. of full legal age.

6. Music.

   1. (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.

   2. (of a chord) having a major third between the root and the note next above it.

7. pertaining to the subject in which a student takes the most courses.

   Her major field is English history.

8. (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.

verb (used without object)

• majors,
  present (3rd person singular)
• majored,
  past participle,  past
• majoring
  present participle

1. to follow a major course of study.

   He is majoring in physics.

Major ² American  

[may-jer] / ˈmeɪ dʒər /

noun

1. Clarence, born 1936, U.S. novelist and poet.

2. John, born 1943, British political leader: prime minister 1990–97.

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major ¹ British  

/ ˈmeɪdʒə /

noun

1. military an officer immediately junior to a lieutenant colonel

2. a person who is superior in a group or class

3. a large or important company

   the oil majors

4. (often preceded by the) music a major key, chord, mode, or scale

5. 1. the principal field of study of a student at a university, etc

      his major is sociology

   2. a student who is studying a particular subject as his principal field

      a sociology major

6. a person who has reached the age of legal majority

7. logic a major term or premise

8. a principal or important record company, film company, etc

9. (plural) the major leagues

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adjective

1. larger in extent, number, etc

   the major part

2. of greater importance or priority

3. very serious or significant

   a major disaster

4. main, chief, or principal

5. of, involving, or making up a majority

6. music

   1. (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

   2. relating to or employing notes from the major scale

      a major key

   3. (postpositive) denoting a specified key or scale as being major

      C major

   4. denoting a chord or triad having a major third above the root

   5. (in jazz) denoting a major chord with a major seventh added above the root

7. logic constituting the major term or major premise of a syllogism

8. of or relating to a student's principal field of study at a university, etc

9. the elder: used after a schoolboy's surname if he has one or more younger brothers in the same school

   Price major

10. of full legal age

11. (postpositive) Leisure:Bell-ringing of, relating to, or denoting a method rung on eight bells

verb

1. to do one's principal study (in a particular subject)

   to major in English literature

2. to take or deal with as the main area of interest

   the book majors on the peasant dishes

Major ² British  

/ ˈmeɪdʒə /

noun

1. Sir John. born 1943, British Conservative politician: Chancellor of the Exchequer (1989–90); prime minister (1990–97)

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Synonym Usage

See capital ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• majorship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• majors
  plural

Participles

• majoring
  present
• majored
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• major
  simple
• majors
  simple
• have majored
  perfect
• has majored
  perfect
• am majoring
  progressive
• are majoring
  progressive
• is majoring
  progressive
• have been majoring
  perfect progressive
• has been majoring
  perfect progressive

Past

• majored
  simple
• had majored
  perfect
• was majoring
  progressive
• were majoring
  progressive
• had been majoring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will major
  simple
• will have majored
  perfect
• will be majoring
  progressive
• will have been majoring
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of major

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

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Explanation

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

major Major majors majored majoring

After the call, TD Cowen’s Robert Moskow wrote that he continues “to struggle with the slow progress and lack of transparency on major strategic priorities.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

In some ways it is a miracle there has not been a global recession, or a debt crisis in a major emerging economy.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Tech giant Google has been quietly making overtures to major studios as it tries to find ways to get Hollywood to use its AI technology.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Police also banned a major march through the heart of the capital and negotiations with organisers over an alternative route failed to reach agreement.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Something major had happened to those strands over the summer, but now April had arrived with me no closer to solving the mystery.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Major banks were issuing reports about the prospect of "Breturn".

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

So did Charles Bolden, a US Marine Corps Major General who became the head of Nasa, and a retired Lt Gen Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to become a three-star general in the Army.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

DiMaggio extended the streak to 56 games, a Major League record that still stands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Major shipping companies, including CMA-CGM, MSC and Hapag-Lloyd, have pledged to avoid Arctic routes, citing environmental concerns.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

But Major Puff liked the idea of going somewhere warm for a few months each year, or every other year, or whenever the mood struck him.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

The team’s collective age — the Dodgers carried the oldest lineup in the majors this year, according to Baseball Reference, weighted by at-bats and games played — may not have helped.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

They also led the majors in one other important category: wins.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Shell and other oil majors are seeing "an unprecedented widening of the refining spread", said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

They were third in the majors in walks and near the bottom in strikeouts, which allowed them to manufacture runs by stringing together long innings rather than relying on the long ball.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

Cade was our pitcher—a lefty who’d been scouted by the majors, extremely talented—and I played the outfield, usually right.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

He majored in history at Yale, made friends including William F. Buckley Jr., and graduated in 1950.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

"Since I am the first I feel a great responsibility to pave the way for other women athletes who love playing games as much as I do," said Park, who majored in taekwondo in college.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

She attended Brandeis University, where she majored in political science and performed in musicals and cabaret.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

After coming through the LTA system, Fery opted to go on a scholarship to Stanford University in California - a prestigious institution that specialises in research - and majored in science, technology and society.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

His name was Paul Lurz, and he was the hospital’s director of performance and improvement, but he also happened to be a social worker who’d majored in history, which was his passion.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

At Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Saint switched from training to be a teacher to majoring in drama.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Eftekhar was a sophomore majoring in math, UC Irvine spokesperson Tom Vasich said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

While studying in an NYU library, he met Sarah Fryer, who was majoring in psychology and biology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

He walked onto the team at Texas A&M, majoring in business finance, planning to stick around campus long enough to earn a master’s degree.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026

When I was majoring in Asian-American studies, I took only one relevant course, in theater set design, for a college production of Madama Butterfly.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

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Related Words

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