Majesty
nounImpressive dignity, grandeur, or stately beauty.
How to spell majesty
7 letters · 3 syllables
How to pronounce majesty
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does majesty mean?
- nounImpressive dignity, grandeur, or stately beauty.
- nounA formal title used to address or refer to a reigning king or queen.
Majesty in a sentence
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The sheer majesty of the mountain range silenced the whole tour group.
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The ambassador bowed and addressed the queen as Her majesty.
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The cathedral was built to convey power and majesty to every visitor.
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Court protocol dictates how guests should speak to His majesty at the banquet.
Where does majesty come from?
Language of origin: Latin
This word travelled into English from the Latin noun maiestas, which meant 'greatness', 'grandeur', or 'high dignity', and which was itself built on the comparative maior, meaning 'greater'. That same maior root underlies the everyday word 'major', so majesty is, quite literally, a quality of being greater. Old French softened maiestas into majeste, and English borrowed it in the 1300s to describe the imposing dignity of God, kings, and the natural world. Within a couple of centuries it had also hardened into a formal title of address for a sovereign, as in 'Your Majesty', a usage popularised at the English court during the reign of Henry VIII. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle: writers hear a schwa and may reach for an 'i', but the ending is the plain noun suffix -y, giving 'majesty'.
How the word is built
- majest- (from Latin maiestas: greatness, dignity)
- -y (noun suffix)
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