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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

According to Pew Research Center, which analyses religion in the US, opinions of Trump's performance have slipped among all major religious groups.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

Although the agreement marks a major U.S. foreign policy shift, energy analysts say its impact on the market will likely be minimal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Audi's German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz already operate major plants in the United States, in South Carolina and Alabama respectively.

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

Ascomycetes make up the largest major group of fungi, with more than 64,000 recognized species.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 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

The stewards of Major League Baseball have spent all year trying to convince fans that a World Series like this one was all but impossible.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Major sections fell into the sea during storms in late 2002, while two separate fires the following year destroyed most of what remained.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

Tampa Bay pitchers threw changeups over 20% of the time this season, the most of any Major League Baseball team in the pitch-tracking era.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Irvine’s Major Accident Investigation Team is continuing to investigate the circumstances behind the deadly crash, police said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

Major Puff knows all about the glorious battles of the past, most involving the puffins’ wicked and vile enemy, the great black-backed gulls.

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

In Minnesota, Carleton College’s current senior class has 73 computer-science majors, according to the chair of the computer-science department, Amy Csizmar Dalal.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

With Kartal absent from three of the four majors, no British women went past the second round of a Grand Slam tournament in 2026.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

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

The American League has thrown up an even more extreme case in the Tampa Bay Rays, who have the 27th payroll in the majors and are making small ball cool again.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 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

Before he spent nine seasons as a major-league outfielder, Venable majored in anthropology at Princeton, where he starred in baseball and basketball.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 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

Thankfully, Ritu auntie had majored in small talk in college.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

The number of students majoring in computer science dropped to 212 in 2026, down 19% from the 2021 peak, according to Dartmouth data.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

Now, in the fall of 2026, 1,315 students enrolled at Michigan are majoring in computer science — down 48% from the 2023 peak, university data show.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

I was majoring in sociology, pulling good grades.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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Related Words

• big
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• serious
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