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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  

[mey-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  

[mey-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

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

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

The Dodgers lead the major leagues in attendance, on pace to sell 4 million tickets for the second consecutive season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Trump has announced a major oil deal negotiated with Rodriguez’s government and plans to meet with her at next week’s United Nations General Assembly, which will give her the most prominent international stage yet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

"It's nothing major, but there's still a lot of tennis to be played this year and with that in mind, we had to make the difficult decision to replace him."

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Investor sentiment is a major source of this pattern.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

And eventually instead of shouting or throwing things, he’d play a major chord on the keyboard my mom got him, to show he’s happy, or a minor chord if he’s not.”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Thrive Eternal, a sports-focused holding company, struck its first deal earlier for a stake in Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Major US banks JP Morgan, KeyCorp, and BNY all raised their prime lending rate on Wednesday to 7% from 6.75%, which will affect rates charged on credit cards and personal loans.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Major Wilks, described by the MoD as a "proud family man", is survived by his wife and two sons.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Major institutional investors remain heavily overinvested in stocks — even at almost unprecedented valuations — and underinvested in safer bonds, according to the latest closely watched survey from BofA Securities.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Eventually, Sun Girl returned with Handsome, Boo, Major Puff, Twitch, and Magic, as well as her eight sled dogs who referred to themselves as the Pack.

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

My agent negotiated a deal that had me start in the majors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

And it isn’t a slight on Zverev’s campaign to note he feasted on thinner brackets: In an oft-repeated stat, he captured two majors despite a 2-7 record this year against Top 10 players.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

He has been aided by injuries to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who swept the majors in the past two seasons, but a strengthened mentality and dedication to fitness has also helped.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

At least six deaf men have played in the majors since Hoy, but Pride is just the second to do so in the last 112 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

Suddenly, it seemed to me, not only that the world was full of English majors, but of people with a lot more experience than I had.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

“It’s sort of like saying you majored in Excel,” Miscovich says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 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

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

But AI wasn’t allowed for quizzes or exams testing memorized subjects, said the 22-year-old, who majored in business computer information systems.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026

If I majored in African and African-American studies, what would I do upon graduation?

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Starting in 2013, the number of students majoring in sociology dropped from 31,000 to 21,000 in 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Sherry Zhou, a senior majoring in political science and communications, said the timing was difficult with major assignments due and many professors using Canvas to share readings and slide decks.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026

In 1992, I started at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in communications and minoring in theater.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

The teacher told me I had potential for majoring in music, and he was the one that pushed me, professor Kurt at the University of Texas-Pan American.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026

I didn’t want to end up being dependent on people I didn’t respect much, so here I am majoring in anthropology instead.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

Related Words

• big
• crucial
• great
• main
• notable
• preeminent
• principal
• radical
• serious
• significant
• vital