Major

How to spell major

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce major

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does major mean?

1. adjectiveImportant, serious, or great in size or scope.
2. nounA military officer ranking above a captain and below a lieutenant colonel.
3. nounA student's main subject of academic specialisation at university.

Major in a sentence

• adjective

  The company announced a major change to its pricing.

• noun

  The major briefed the troops before the exercise.

• noun

  She switched her major from biology to economics in her second year.

• adjective

  Flooding caused major damage to the lower floors.

• noun

  After twelve years of service she was promoted to major.

• noun

  His major in computer science led directly to a software job.

Where does major come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes straight from the Latin maior, the comparative form of magnus, which simply meant 'great' or 'large'; maior therefore literally meant 'greater' or 'larger'. English took it up in the late Middle Ages, partly through Old French, first as a term in logic and law and soon as a general adjective meaning more important or more serious. The military rank arrived in the seventeenth century, borrowed through French where sergent-major and sergeant major described a senior officer, and over time 'major' on its own settled as the rank between captain and lieutenant colonel. The American academic sense, a student's main field of study, grew in the nineteenth century from the same idea of the 'greater' or principal subject. The same magnus root still shows up in 'magnify', 'magnitude' and 'magnate', and the simple maj- spelling, with no hidden letters, is a useful reminder that this is one of the more straightforward Latin borrowings.

How the word is built

• maj- (from Latin maior: greater)
• -or (comparative suffix)