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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

Her return as Kirby Reed in 2023’s “Scream VI” marked her first major screen role after a long acting hiatus.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

The University of California, Irvine, a major beneficiary of the 340B program, in 2024 acquired four hospitals and their associated outpatient clinics from the for-profit Tenet Healthcare.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Salamina Deputy Mayor Thodoris Zannis said firefighters were trying to keep the fires from burning over a mountain on the island and forming one major wildfire.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

The coming week is expected to be relatively quiet, with no major economic reports scheduled.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026

Five men climbed into rubber rafts and paddled toward shore to mark the landing site with lights—and immediately discovered a major flaw in the plan.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Major shipping companies including France's CMA CGM, Switzerland-headquartered MSC and Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd have pledged to "avoid Arctic trans-shipment routes".

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

"Major rainfall flooding may prompt many evacuations and rescues," the NWS said, adding that rivers and tributaries "may rapidly overflow their banks in multiple places".

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

As for Major, he wonders how another political sea change could affect his business.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

“So you two have met before, Major Puff?”

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

On the day he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals straight out of high school in 2021, Joshua Báez said he wanted to reach the majors in as little as two years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

The deal resolves governance disputes stemming from the 2019 creation of the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture, which the two mining majors established after Barrick dropped an $18 billion hostile takeover bid for Newmont.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

While most MLB fans might be seeing Yan’s post-strikeout air show for the first time, the celebrations have actually become a signature move for the player during his long, unconventional journey to the majors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Mozeliak said Nimmala is about two years from the majors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

I don’t claim to have been that great, but it would have been nice to carry a childhood dream of playing in the majors that most children have.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson

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

A Stanford University graduate who majored in economics, Doris helped set the tone for the nascent company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026

With help from a basketball scholarship, he majored in biology at Seattle University, a Roman Catholic school.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

Mom and Mrs. Van Dorn—who has now become Julia—discover that they both went to Northwestern and both majored in English literature.

From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements

At the Kelley School, where currently 278 students are majoring in real estate, faculty picked only 20 to manage the private-equity fund.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

He is a student at Syracuse University, majoring in magazine, news and digital journalism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Katie Karroum, a Cal State Northridge senior majoring in communication studies, said AI has been “inconsistently used and applied.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

Born in Western Uganda, he holds a bachelor’s degree from Uganda’s Makerere University, Kampala, majoring in literature and English language studies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026

“Yeah. She’s interested as hell in all that stuff. She’s majoring in psychology.”

From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger

Related Words

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