MAJOR
What does "MAJOR" mean?
Important, serious, or significant; greater in size or rank.
Meanings
- Important, large, or significant compared with others. Climate change is a major challenge for the century.
- A military officer ranking above captain and below lieutenant colonel. The major briefed the unit before dawn.
- A student's principal field of academic study. She switched her major from biology to economics.
- Of a musical scale or key with a particular bright interval pattern, often heard as cheerful. The piece is written in C major. technical
- To specialize in a subject at university. He decided to major in philosophy.
Did you know?
- 'Major' literally means 'greater' — it's the Latin comparative of 'magnus' (great), the same root that gives us 'magnify' and 'magnitude'.
Word origin
From Latin 'maior', the comparative of 'magnus' (great, large), meaning 'greater'; via Old French into English.
Remember it
MAJOR shares its 'maj-' with 'magnify' — both come from Latin for 'great'.
A little poem
The map calls one road major, bold and wide-
but I learned the most on the lane it tried to hide.
couplet
Wordplay
- Why did the music student panic about graduation? She still hadn't decided on a major — and she was already in C.
What it teaches
What counts as a major decision is only clear from the far side of it.
Quick facts
What does MAJOR mean?
Important, serious, or significant; greater in size or rank.
Is MAJOR a valid word?
Yes — MAJOR is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is MAJOR?
MAJOR has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does MAJOR come from?
From Latin 'maior', the comparative of 'magnus' (great, large), meaning 'greater'; via Old French into English.
What can MAJOR teach us?
What counts as a major decision is only clear from the far side of it.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.