See Also: Majority(law)
Majority(money)
majority(dictionary)
AGE OF MAJORITY(law)
overall majority(dictionary)
majority(dictionary)
Majority shareholder(money)
moral majority(dictionary)
silent majority(dictionary)
MAJORITY, persons(law)

majority (iou)



majority noun. M16.
[French majorite, in branch I from medieval Latin majoritas, formed as MAJOR adjective, in branch II formed as MAJOR noun1: see -ITY.]
I. The state or fact of being greater; superiority; pre-eminence. M16-E18.
The state of being of full age. M16.
L. Strachey A few days before her eighteenth birthdaythe date of her majority. Listener It is sad that, as it approaches its majority, this organisation should have run into deep waters.
The greater number or part; a number which is more than half the whole number; spec. the larger party voting together in a deliberative assembly or electoral body. L17.
Byron The majority In council were against you. F. H. A. Scrivener Nor in the vast majority of instances does it exist. N. Chomsky The large majority of its population..is Khmer..but there are substantial Chinese and Vietnamese minorities. J. Nagenda These friends, the majority of whom had been at school with him.
The number by which the votes cast for one party etc. exceed those for the next in rank. M18.
J. McCarthy A majority of forty-six was given for the resolution. V. Brittain Mr. Harris won the election with a comfortable majority.
II.
The rank or office of a major. L18.
R. Capell This redoubtable sapper, risen from the ranks to a majority, is a type such as makes empires.
Phrases: absolute majority: see ABSOLUTE adjective 8. in the majority belonging to or constituting the majority. silent majority: see SILENT adjective. the great majority: see GREAT adjective. the majority spec. the dead; join the majority, die. the vast majority: see VAST adjective 5.
Comb.: majority carrier Electronics in a semiconductor, a charge carrier (electron or hole) of the kind carrying the greater proportion of the current; majority rule the principle that the greater number should exercise greater power; majority verdict a verdict given by more than half of a jury, but not unanimous.