ma·jor (m??j?r)adj.1. Greater than others in importance or rank: a major artist.2. Great in scope or effect: a major improvement.3. Great in number, size, or extent: the major portion of the population.4. Requiring great attention or concern; very serious: a major illness.5. Law Legally recognized as having reached the age of adulthood.6. Of or relating to the field of academic study in which a student specializes.7. Music a. Designating a scale or mode having half steps between the third and fourth and the seventh and eighth degrees.b. Equivalent to the distance between the tonic note and the second or third or sixth or seventh degrees of a major scale or mode: a major interval.c. Based on a major scale: a major key.n.1. a. A commissioned rank in the US Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above captain and below lieutenant colonel.b. One who holds this rank.2. One that is superior in rank, importance, or ability: an oil-producing country considered as one of the majors.3. Law One recognized by the law as having reached the age of adulthood.4. a. A field of study chosen as an academic specialty.b. A student specializing in such studies: a linguistics major.5. Logic a. A major premise.b. A major term.6. Music a. A major scale, key, interval, or mode.b. A chord containing a major third between the first and second notes and a minor third between the second and third notes.7. majors Sports The major leagues.intr.v. ma·jored, ma·jor·ing, ma·jors To pursue academic studies in a major: majoring in mathematics.[Middle English majour, from Latin m?ior; see meg- in Indo-European roots.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.major (?me?d??) n1. (Military) military an officer immediately junior to a lieutenant colonel2. a person who is superior in a group or class3. (Commerce) a large or important company: the oil majors. 4. a large or important company: the oil majors. 5. (Music, other) (often preceded by the) music a major key, chord, mode, or scale6. (Education) a. the principal field of study of a student at a university, etc: his major is sociology. b. a student who is studying a particular subject as his principal field: a sociology major. 7. (Law) a person who has reached the age of legal majority8. (Logic) logic a major term or premise9. (Film) a principal or important record company, film company, etc10. (General Sporting Terms) the majors (plural) US and Canadian the major leaguesadj11. larger in extent, number, etc: the major part. 12. of greater importance or priority13. very serious or significant: a major disaster. 14. main, chief, or principal15. of, involving, or making up a majority16. (Music, other) music a. (of a scale or mode) having notes separated by the interval of a whole tone, except for the third and fourth degrees, and seventh and eighth degrees, which are separated by a semitoneb. relating to or employing notes from the major scale: a major key. c. (postpositive) denoting a specified key or scale as being major: C major. d. denoting a chord or triad having a major third above the roote. (in jazz) denoting a major chord with a major seventh added above the root17. (Logic) logic constituting the major term or major premise of a syllogism18. (Education) chiefly US and Canadian and Austral and NZ of or relating to a student’s principal field of study at a university, etc19. (Education) archaic Brit the elder: used after a schoolboy’s surname if he has one or more younger brothers in the same school: Price major. 20. (Law) of full legal age21. (Music, other) (postpositive) bell-ringing of, relating to, or denoting a method rung on eight bellsvb22. (Education) (usually foll by: in) US and Canadian and Austral and NZ to do one’s principal study (in a particular subject): to major in English literature. 23. (usually foll by: on) to take or deal with as the main area of interest: the book majors on the peasant dishes. [C15 (adj): from Latin, comparative of magnus great; C17 (n, in military sense): from French, short for sergeant major] ?majorship nMajor (?me?d??) n (Biography) Sir John. born 1943, British Conservative politician: Chancellor of the Exchequer (1989?90); prime minister (1990?97)Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014ma?jor (?me? d??r) n. 1. a commissioned military officer ranking below a lieutenant colonel and above a captain. 2. one of superior rank, ability, or power in a specified class. 3. a. field of study in which a student specializes. b. a student specializing in such a field: a history major. 4. a person of full legal age. 5. a major musical interval, chord, or scale. 6. the majors, the major leagues. adj. 7. greater in size, extent, or amount: a major part. 8. greater in rank or importance: a major talent. 9. of great risk; serious: a major operation. 10. of or pertaining to a majority. 11. of full legal age. 12. Music. a. (of an interval) being between the tonic and the second, third, sixth, or seventh degrees of a major scale: a major third. b. (of a chord) having a major third between the root and the note next above it. c. based on a major scale: a major key. 13. pertaining to the subject in which a student specializes. v.i. 14. to follow an academic major: majoring in physics. [1350?1400;