Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: French
Origin: majorité, from Latin major; MAJOR1

majority

 noun
     
NEW! See related topics: VOTINGLAW
ma‧jor‧i‧ty plural majorities
1

most people or things

[singular also + plural verb British English] most of the people or things in a group [≠ minority]
majority of
The majority of students find it quite hard to live on the amount of money they get.
great/vast/overwhelming majority of something (=almost all of a group)
In the vast majority of cases the disease is fatal.
be in the majority (=form the largest group)
In this city, Muslims are in the majority.
➔ silent majority
2

most votes

[countable]PPV if one person or group wins a majority in an election, they win more votes than other people or groups
majority of 50/100 etc
He won by a majority of 500.
The Labour Party won a huge majority at the last general election.
clear/overall/absolute majority (=a situation in which one party wins more votes in an election than all the other parties)
The party won an absolute majority in Portugal in 1987.
small/narrow majority
The government gained only a narrow majority, with 151 votes against 144.
Labour/Conservative etc majority
The Labour majority was reduced to just 15 seats at the last election.
3

majority vote/decision/verdict etc

a vote or decision in which more people vote for something than vote against it:
The committee takes decisions by majority vote.
The jury found him guilty by a majority verdict.
4

majority stake/shareholding etc

when one person or group owns a bigger share of a company than other people or groups and so is able to control what happens to the company:
Alex Golding held a majority shareholding in Golding plc.
5

becoming an adult

[uncountable] British English lawSCL the age when someone legally becomes an adult [≠ minority]
reach majority/the age of majority
He became a partner in the family firm on reaching his majority.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
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