| Learning / English Dictionary |
MAJORITY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The property resulting from being or relating to the greater in number of two parts; the main part
Example:
the bulk of the work is finished
Synonyms:
bulk; majority
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("majority" is a kind of...):
figure; number (the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals)
Attribute:
major (greater in number or size or amount)
Antonym:
minority (being or relating to the smaller in number of two parts)
Derivation:
major (greater in number or size or amount)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(elections) more than half of the votes
Synonyms:
absolute majority; majority
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("majority" is a kind of...):
relative quantity (a quantity relative to some purpose)
Domain category:
election (a vote to select the winner of a position or political office)
Derivation:
major (greater in number or size or amount)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The age at which persons are considered competent to manage their own affairs
Synonyms:
legal age; majority
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("majority" is a kind of...):
age; eld (a time of life (usually defined in years) at which some particular qualification or power arises)
Holonyms ("majority" is a part of...):
adulthood; maturity (the period of time in your life after your physical growth has stopped and you are fully developed)
Antonym:
minority (any age prior to the legal age)
Derivation:
major (of full legal age)
Context examples:
The vast majority of such tumors are malignant.
(Metastatic/Recurrent, NCI Thesaurus)
The majority of cases are carcinomas, lymphomas, and melanomas.
(Metastatic Malignant Neoplasm to the Thyroid Gland, NCI Thesaurus)
An acute myeloid leukemia in which the majority of monocytic cells are promonocytes.
(Acute Monocytic Leukemia, NCI Thesaurus/WHO)
The vast majority of cases recur if they are not treated with radical surgery.
(Adamantinoma of Long Bones, NCI Thesaurus)
The vast majority of cases present as stage I tumors; however, all tumors have a potential for aggressive clinical course.
(Adult Type Granulosa Cell Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)
The vast majority of cases have a benign clinical course.
(Myopericytoma, NCI Thesaurus)
The majority of these tumors are benign.
(Nerve Root Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)
But I don't mean to flatter you: if you are cast in a different mould to the majority, it is no merit of yours: Nature did it.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The majority of the cases are nasal type extranodal NK/T-cell lymphomas and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.
(Nasal Cavity Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)
However, even now, the majority of spectrometers are based around principles similar to what Newton demonstrated with his prism: the spatial separation of light into different spectral components.
(Nanowires replace Newton’s famous glass prism, University of Cambridge)
