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major [major 词源字典]: major: [16] Latin mājor ‘larger’ was the comparative form of magnus ‘large’, from which English gets magnitude, magnum etc (in early Latin it was *māgjōs). English originally acquired it as an adjective. Its noun use, for an army officer, followed in the 17th century. This represented a borrowing from French major, which was short for sergeant-major (in those days, ‘sergeant major’ was a more elevated rank than it is today). The derivative majority [16] comes via French majorité from medieval Latin mājōritās. Mayor comes from Latin mājor, routed via Old French.
=> magnitude, magnum, mayor[major etymology, major origin, 英语词源]
force majeure (n.): 1883, French, literally "superior strength."
labia majora (n.): the outer fold of skin around the vulva, 1813, Modern Latin, literally "great lips" (see labia). The singular is labium majus.
lese-majesty (n.): "offense against sovereign authority, treason," 1530s (mid-15c. as an Anglo-French word), from French lèse-majesté, from Latin laesa majestos "violated majesty," from laesus, past participle of laedere "to hurt, injure, damage, offend, insult," of unknown origin.
majestic (adj.): c. 1600, from majesty + -ic. Related: Majestical (1570s); majestically.
majesty (n.): c. 1300, "greatness, glory," from Old French majeste "grandeur, nobility" (12c.), from Latin maiestatem (nominative maiestas) "greatness, dignity, elevation, honor, excellence," from stem of maior (neuter maius), comparative of magnus "great" (see magnate). Earliest English us is with reference to God; as a title, in reference to kings and queens (late 14c.), it is from Romance languages and descends from the Roman Empire.
Majlis (n.): Persian national assembly, 1821, from Arabic majlis "assembly," literally "session," from jalasa "he sat down."
majolica (n.): Italian glazed pottery, 1550s, from Italian Majolica, 14c. name of island now known as Majorca in the Balearics, from Latin maior (see major (adj.)); so called because it is the largest of the three islands. The best pottery of this type was said to have been made there.
major (adj.): c. 1300, from Latin maior (earlier *magjos), irregular comparative of magnus "large, great" (see magnate). Used in music (of modes, scales, or chords) since 1690s, on notion of an interval a half-tone greater than the minor.
major (n.): military rank, 1640s, from French major, short for sergent-major, originally a higher rank than at present, from Medieval Latin major "chief officer, magnate, superior person," from Latin maior "an elder, adult," noun use of the adjective (see major (adj.)). The musical sense attested by 1797.
major (v.): "focus (one's) studies," 1910, American English, from major (n.) in sense of "subject of specialization" (1890). Related: Majored; majoring. Earlier as a verb, in Scottish, "to prance about, or walk backwards and forwards with a military air and step" [Jamieson, 1825].
major-domo (n.): 1580s, via Italian maggiordomo or Spanish mayordomo, from Medieval Latin major domus "chief of the household," also "mayor of the palace" under the Merovingians, from Latin major "greater" (see major (adj.)) + genitive of domus "house" (see domestic).
majorette (n.): "baton-twirler," 1941, short for drum-majorette (1938), fem. of drum-major (1590s).
The perfect majorette is a pert, shapely, smiling extrovert, who loves big, noisy crowds and knows how to make those crowds love her. ["Life" magazine, Oct. 10, 1938]
(The article notes that the activity "has been going on for about six years now").
majoritarian: 1917 (adj.), from majority + -ian.
majority (n.): 1550s, "condition of being greater, superiority," from Middle French majorité (16c.), from Medieval Latin majoritatem (nominative majoritas) "majority," from Latin maior "greater" (see major (adj.)). Sense of "state of being of full age" is attested from 1560s; meaning "greater number or part" (of votes, etc.) first recorded 1690s. The majority "the dead" recorded from 1719.
majorly (adv.): by 1887, from major (adj.) + -ly (2). Common in popular U.S. colloquial speech from c. 1995.
majuscule: 18c. (adj)., 1825 (n.), from French majuscule (16c.), from Latin maiuscula (littera), fem. of maiusculus "somewhat larger, somewhat greater," diminutive of maior (see major (adj.)).
thingamajig (n.): also thingumajig, 1824, see thing. Compare thingum (1670s), thingumbob (1751), thingummy (1796).
Canis Major: "A small constellation (the Great Dog), said to represent one of the dogs following Orion. It is just south of the celestial equator and contains the brightest star, Sirius", Latin.
Ursa Major: "One of the largest and most prominent northern constellations (the Great Bear). The seven brightest stars form a familiar formation variously called the Plough, Big Dipper, or Charles’s Wain, and include the Pointers", Latin, from the story in Greek mythology that the nymph Callisto was turned into a bear and placed as a constellation in the heavens by Zeus.
ad majorem Dei gloriam: "To the greater glory of God. Used especially as a dedicatory formula", Mid 17th cent.; earliest use found in John Taylor (1578–1653), poet. From post-classical Latin ad maiorem Dei gloriam, lit. ‘to the greater glory of God’ from classical Latin ad + maiōrem, accusative of maior greater + Deī, genitive of Deus God + glōriam, accusative of glōria.