Word definition: majority

Etimology


From Middle French maiorité, from Medieval Latin māiōritātem, accusative of Latin māiōritās, from Latin māiōr (“greater”). Morphologically major +‎ -ity

noun


majority (countable and uncountable, plural majorities)

More than half (50%) of some group.

The difference between the winning vote and the rest of the votes.

(dated) Legal adulthood, age of majority.

(UK) The office held by a member of the armed forces in the rank of major.

Ancestors; ancestry.

Examples


Antonym: minority

Hyponyms: absolute majority, double majority, qualified majority, silent majority, simple majority, supermajority

Coordinate term: plurality

The majority agreed that the new proposal was the best.

Those opposing the building plans were in the majority, so the building project was canceled.

The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.

But in 1912 the American people gave the Democrats another opportunity, and under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson we swept the country from sea to sea. At the end of that historic contest we had the Presidency, the Senate by a working majority, and the House by an overwhelming majority.

The winner with 53% had a 6% majority over the loser with 47%.

By the time I reached my majority, I had already been around the world twice.

On receiving the news of his promotion, Charles Snodgrass said he was delighted to be entering his majority.

He was a captain before he went to the front, and following the Argonne battles he got his majority and the command of the divisional machine-guns.

Of evil parents an evil generation, a posterity not unlike their majority; of mischievous progenitors, a venomous and destructive progeny.

Related words


related terms

major

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