Dictionary
ma•jor
Pronunciation: (mā'jur), [key]—
n.
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. Educ.
a. a subject or field of study chosen by a student to represent his or her principal interest and upon which a large share of his or her efforts are concentrated:
History was my major at college.
b. 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,
a. Sports.the major leagues:
He coached in the majors as well as in the minors.
b. the companies or organizations that lead or control a particular field of activity:
the oil majors.
—
adj.
1. greater in size, extent, or importance:
the major part of the town.
2. great, as in rank or importance:
a major political issue; a major artist.
3. serious or risky:
a major operation.
4. of or pertaining to the majority:
the major opinion.
5. of full legal age.
6. Music.
a. (of an interval) being between the tonic and the second, third, sixth, or seventh degrees of a major scale:
a major third; a major sixth.
b. (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. (
cap.) (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.
—
v.i.
to follow a major course of study:
He is majoring in physics. Ma•jor
Pronunciation: (mā'jur), [key]—
n.
1. Clarence, born 1936, U.S. novelist and poet.
2. John, born 1943, British political leader: prime minister since 1990.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
