major

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a commissioned military officer in the United States Army or Air Force or Marines; below lieutenant colonel and above captain
  2. noun British statesman who was prime minister from 1990 until 1997 (born in 1943)
  3. noun a university student who is studying a particular field as the principal subject

Etymology

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. Noun sense 1 is a shortening of sergeant major, perhaps after Spanish mayor in the same sense.

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