major-domo
Americannoun
-
major-domos
plural
-
a man in charge of a great household, as that of a sovereign; a chief steward.
-
a steward or butler.
-
a person who makes arrangements for another.
noun
-
the chief steward or butler of a great household
-
facetious a steward or butler
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected 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.
See Examples For:
Proteins, of course; RNA acts as the major-domo, a bridge between the castes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
As for the Rangers, the boxing promoter and major-domo of Madison Square Garden back in the 1920s was a fellow named Tex Rickard.
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 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
“He’s the major-domo, and put that in all caps,” Giuliani said.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 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
Both ceremonies were slick enough, and McDonald and Odom proved to be charming major-domos.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 27, 2021
Little Fortune was interned at war's beginning, but he was not shipped to Canada on the ill-fated Arandora Star along with most of London's Italian major-domos.
From Time Magazine Archive
These houses, which are often very imposing and palatial, are intended only for the residence of the owners of the estate and their major-domos or superintendents.
From The Mayas, the Sources of Their History Dr. Le Plongeon in Yucatan, His Account of Discoveries by Stephen Salisbury
Then entered dwarf-stewards, and major-domos; aloft bearing twisted antlers; all hollowed out in goblets, grouped; announcing dinner.
From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. II by Herman Melville
Then the well-fed major-domos, the pages, the stablemen, the stewards, and Lady Barbe, with all her keys hanging by her side on a fine silver key-ring.
From Letters from my Windmill by Alphonse Daudet
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.
