English
majority
Majority is borrowed from Middle French maiorité, from Medieval Latin maiōritātem, accusative of maiōritās, from Latin maior ‘greater’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaior‘greater’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaiōritās
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600maiorité
- Englishearliest quotation 1650majority
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaior‘greater’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaiōritās
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600maiorité
- Englishearliest quotation 1650majority
Earliest quotation: 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […]: “Of evil parents an evil generation, a posterity not…”
Formed from major + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- ‘great’
Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs ‘greater’
Proto-Italic *majjōs
Latin maior ‘greater’
Middle English major
English major
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- ‘great’
much, magistrate, mastery, maestro, meister, masterly, magisterium, 7 more
through Latin maior ‘greater’
Today it means
noun More than half (50%) of some group.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin maior / majority