major-domo
Americannoun
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a man in charge of a great household, as that of a sovereign; a chief steward.
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a steward or butler.
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a person who makes arrangements for another.
noun
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the chief steward or butler of a great household
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facetious a steward or butler
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of major-domo
1580–90; < Spanish mayordomo < Medieval Latin majordomūs head of the house, equivalent to major major + domūs, genitive of domus house; see dome
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Proteins, of course; RNA acts as the major-domo, a bridge between the castes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
He opts for intensely psychological, realist austerity in a portrait of Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Clement VII’s major-domo.
From New York Times • Jun. 24, 2021
Chad Kelderman is deliciously ridiculous as Olivia’s pompous major-domo Malvolio, and Eric Ray Anderson gleefully cavorts as the sly party dog Sir Toby Belch.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 17, 2019
“I sat, notebook poised,” he wrote, “while he had a nap. Then he woke up, looked at me and said to his major-domo, ‘Who is this guy?,’ turned over and went back to sleep.”
From Washington Post • Dec. 10, 2016
Donovan marveled, “What are they doing? That’s what I want to know. It looks like the Virginia reel—and Dave’s a major-domo, or I never saw one.”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
