majorとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From Middle English major, from Latin maior, comparative of magnus (“great, large; noble, important”), from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs (“greater”), comparative of *meǵh₂- (“great”). Compare West Frisian majoar (“major”), Dutch majoor (“major”), French majeur. Doublet of mayor.

発音

• enPR: mā'jə(r)
• IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/
• 韻: -eɪd͡ʒə(ɹ)

形容詞

major (comparative more major, superlative most major)

1. (attributive):
   1. Greater in dignity, rank, importance, significance, or interest.
      • 2013 June 13, Karen McVeigh, “US supreme court rules human genes cannot be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[1], volume 189, number 2, page 10:

        The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.

   2. Greater in number, quantity, or extent.

      the major part of the assembly

      Synonym: main

   3. Notable or conspicuous in effect or scope.

      Synonym: considerable

   4. Prominent or significant in size, amount, or degree.

      to earn some major cash

   5. (medicine) Involving great risk, serious, life-threatening.

      to suffer from a major illness

2. Of full legal age, having attained majority.

   major children

3. (education) Of or relating to a subject of academic study chosen as a field of specialization.
4. (music):
   1. (of a scale) Having intervals of a semitone between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees.

      major scale

   2. (of an interval) Equivalent to that between the tonic and another note of a major scale, and greater by a semitone than the corresponding minor interval.

      major third

      1. Having a major third above the root.

         major triad

   3. (postpositive) (of a key) Based on a major scale, tending to produce a bright or joyful effect.
   4. (campanology) Bell changes rung on eight bells.
5. (UK, dated) Indicating the elder of two brothers, appended to a surname in public schools.
6. (logic)
   1. (of a term) Occurring as the predicate in the conclusion of a categorical syllogism.
   2. (of a premise) Containing the major term in a categorical syllogism.

反意語

• minor

派生語

関連する語

名詞

major (複数形 majors)

1. (military) A rank of officer in the army and the US air force, between captain and lieutenant colonel.

   He used to be a major in the army.

   1. An officer in charge of a section of band instruments, used with a modifier.

      Meronyms: drum major, trumpet major

2. A person of legal age.

   Antonym: minor

3. (music):
   1. Ellipsis of major key.
   2. Ellipsis of major interval.
   3. Ellipsis of major scale.
   4. (campanology) A system of change-ringing using eight bells.
4. A large, commercially successful company, especially a record label that is bigger than an indie.
   • 1997, Dominic Pride, “U.S. success caps global impact of XL's prodigy”, in Billboard‎^[2], volume 109, number 30, page 86:

     At the end of last year, the band re-signed to XL for another three albums, despite being chased by majors that included Island, says manager Mike Champion of Midi Management.

5. (education, Canada, 米国用法, Australia, New Zealand) The principal subject or course of a student working toward a degree at a college or university.

   Midway through his second year of college, he still hadn't chosen a major.

   Synonym: (英国用法) course

   1. A student at a college or university specializing on a given area of study.

      She is a math major.

6. (logic):
   1. Ellipsis of major term..
   2. Ellipsis of major premise..
7. (bridge) Ellipsis of major suit..
8. (カナダ用法 football) A touchdown, or major score.
9. (豪州用法 rules football) A goal.
10. (英国用法 スラング, dated) An elder brother (especially at a public school).
11. (entomology) A large leaf-cutter ant that acts as a soldier, defending the nest.
12. (obsolete) Alternative form of mayor and mair.

派生語

動詞

major (三人称単数 現在形 majors, 現在分詞 majoring, 過去形および過去分詞形 majored)

1. (intransitive) Used in a phrasal verb: major in.

派生語

• double-major

関連する語

• majorant

参照

• “major”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “major”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

アナグラム

• Jarmo, joram

Latin

発音

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmai̯.i̯or/, [ˈmäi̯ːɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈma.jor/, [ˈmäːjor]

形容詞

major (neuter majus, positive magnus); third declension

1. Alternative spelling of maior.

Inflection

Third-declension comparative adjective.

参照

• “major”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• major in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius かつ others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)