maior

See also:maiôrandmăior

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowingfromLatinmaiōrem.

Adjective

maiormorf(pluralmaiores)

1. bigger,greater,major

   Antonym:menor

2. (music)major

   Antonym:menor

Synonyms

• meirande

Related terms

• maioría

Latin

Alternative forms

• major,maiior

Etymology

FromProto-Italic*magjōs,fromProto-Indo-European*méǵh₂yōs,from*meǵh₂-(“great”)+‎*-yōs(comparative suffix).

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

maior(neutermaius);third declension

1. comparative degreeofmagnus

   Antonym:minor

Usage notes

• In dictionaries published before the 21st century, the root vowel can often be found marked as long, but it is in those cases indicated to be long by position rather than by nature. This convention is abolished in modern dictionaries, which give, depending on typography,maiorormajorwithout a macron. The vowel is thus properly short, as can be indicated by the variant typographic spellingmăjjor.

Inflection

Third-declensioncomparative adjective, with locative.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	maior	maius		maiōrēs	maiōra
Genitive	maiōris			maiōrum
Dative	maiōrī			maiōribus
Accusative	maiōrem	maius		maiōrēs maiōrīs	maiōra
Ablative	maiōre maiōrī			maiōribus
Vocative	maior	maius		maiōrēs	maiōra
Locative	maiōrī maiōre			maiōribus

Derived terms

• maiestās(noun)
• maiusculus(diminutive)

Descendants

Descendants ofmaior

• Aromanian:mari
• Asturian:mayor
• →Breton:maer
• Catalan:major
• Dalmatian:maur
• →Dutch:meier
• →English:major
• French:major,majeur,maire,majorer,mayeur
  • →English:major,mayor,majorate
  • →Finnish:määri
  • →Portuguese:major
  • →Romanian:major
  • →Russian:мажор(mažor),мэр(mɛr)
• Friulian:maiôr,majôr
• Galician:maior
• →German:Meier
• Istriot:maiur
• Italian:maggiore,maggiorare
• Ladin:majer
• Megleno-Romanian:mari
• Norman:maire
• Occitan:major,màger
• →Old Irish:maer
  • Irish:maor
• Piedmontese:magior
• Portuguese:mor,maior
• Romanian:mare
• →Russian:майор(major)
• Sardinian:magiori,mere
• →Scots:mair
• Sicilian:maggiuri,majuri
• Spanish:mayor,mayorar,Mallorca or Majorca
  • →German:Major
    • →Romanian:maior
    • →Swedish:major
      • →Finnish:majuri
• Venetan:maxor,mazor
• →Welsh:maer

Noun

maiorm(genitivemaiōris);third declension

1. (in theplural)ancestors,forefathers;advancedinyears,theaged;theelders
   • 106BCE– 43BCE,Cicero,Pro Archia Poeta Oratioline 284:

     Ergo illum, qui haec fecerat, Rudinum hominem,maiores nostriin civitatem receperunt.

     Therefore Ennius, who composed these poems, although a man from Rudiae,our ancestorsgranted him citizenship.

   • 8CE,Ovid,Fasti5.73–74:

     ‘hinc suamaiōrēstribuisse vocābula Maiō
     tangor et aetātī cōnsuluisse suae.’

     ‘‘Because of this, theancestorsgranted their name to May,
     I have come to grasp, and in regard to their own old age.’’
     (The museUraniaclaims that the month ofMayhonors the ‘‘maiōrēs’’ – ‘‘ancestors’’ or ‘‘elders’’.)

2. (Medieval Latin)Amayor(aleaderof acityortown).

Inflection

Third-declensionnoun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	maior	maiōrēs
Genitive	maiōris	maiōrum
Dative	maiōrī	maiōribus
Accusative	maiōrem	maiōrēs
Ablative	maiōre	maiōribus
Vocative	maior	maiōrēs

Descendants

• Old French:mairem
  • Middle French:mairem
    • French:mairem
  • Norman:mairem
  • →Middle English:maire
    • English:mayor

References

• “major”,inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary,Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “maior”,inCharlton T. Lewis (1891)An Elementary Latin Dictionary,New York: Harper & Brothers
• maiorinGaffiot, Félix (1934)Dictionnaire illustré latin-français,Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894)Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1],London:Macmillan and Co.
  • the elde:maior (natu)
    
  • the majority:maior pars
    
  • (ambiguous)to exaggerate a thing:in maius ferre, in maius extollere aliquid
    
  • (ambiguous)to overestimate a thing:in maius accipere aliquid
    
  • (ambiguous)to deteriorate:a maiorum virtute desciscere, degenerare, deflectere
    
  • (ambiguous)according to the custom and tradition of my fathers:more institutoque maiorum(Mur. 1. 1)
    
  • (ambiguous)what is more important:quod maius est
    
• maiorinRamminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed))Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2],pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “maior”,inWilliam Smith, editor (1848),A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,London: John Murray

Old French

Alternative forms

• major
• majour
• majur
• maor

Etymology

Latinmāior.

Adjective

maior(oblique singular, nominative singularmaire)

1. bigger;larger
2. very large

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric,Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes duIX^eauXV^esiècle(1881)(maior)
• maiuron theAnglo-Norman On-Line Hub

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• mayor(obsolete)

Etymology

FromOld Galician-Portuguesemaior,mayor,fromLatinmāiōrem,fromProto-Indo-European*mag-(“great”)+*-yos(comparative suffix).Doubletofmajor.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil)IPA^(key):/majˈɔʁ/[maɪ̯ˈɔh]

• (Brazil)IPA^(key):/majˈɔʁ/[maɪ̯ˈɔh]
  • (São Paulo)IPA^(key):/majˈɔɾ/[maɪ̯ˈɔɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro)IPA^(key):/majˈɔʁ/[maɪ̯ˈɔχ]
  • (Southern Brazil)IPA^(key):/majˈɔɻ/[maɪ̯ˈɔɻ]

• (Portugal)IPA^(key):/majˈɔɾ/

• (Portugal)IPA^(key):/majˈɔɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal)IPA^(key):/majˈɔ.ɾi/

• Rhymes:(Portugal, São Paulo)-ɔɾ,(Brazil)-ɔʁ
• Hyphenation:mai‧or

Adjective

maiormorf(pluralmaiores)

1. (followed byque)comparative degreeofgrande;bigger,larger

   Antonym:menor

   Melancias sãomaioresque laranjas.

   Watermelons arebiggerthan oranges.

2. (preceded by a definite article)superlative degreeofgrande;biggest,largest

   Antonym:menor

   Júpiter é omaiorplaneta do Sistema Solar.

   Jupiter is thelargestplanet in the Solar System.

3. major,greater

   Antonym:menor

   um desafiomaior

   amajorchallenge

4. (music)major

   Antonym:menor

5. (Brazil,informal)big,great

   Synonym:mó

   Ele émaioridiota...

   He is abigidiot

Derived terms

• maioria
• maiormente

Adverb

maior

1. (Brazil,informal)very,quite

   Synonyms:bem,bastante,mó

   Essa comida comida tem um gostomaiorruim.

   That food tastesverybad.

Further reading

• “maior”,inDicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa(in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam,2008–2024

Romanian

Etymology

BorrowedfromRussianмайор(major)orGermanMajor,fromLatinmaior.Doubletofmajorand possiblymare.

Noun

maiorm(pluralmaiori)

1. major

Declension

Declension ofmaior

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un)maior	maiorul	(niște)maiori	maiorii
genitive/dative	(unui)maior	maiorului	(unor)maiori	maiorilor
vocative	maiorule		maiorilor