majority

majority: ▪ I. majority ma‧jor‧i‧ty ¹ [məˈdʒɒrti ǁ məˈdʒɔː-, məˈdʒɑː-] noun majorities _PLURALFORM

1. [singular] most of the people or things in a particular group:

• Some franchisees quit, but the majority are still hanging on.

majority of

• The majority of successful entrepreneurs have a clear mission statement.

• The vast majority of new radio shows fail in their first season on the air.

ˌearly maˈjority [singular] MARKETING

the people who start buying or using something after the early adopter S (= very first people ) buy or use it

ˌlate maˈjority [singular] MARKETING

the people who start buying or using something after the early majority buy it or use it

2. [countable] the difference between the number of votes gained by the winning party or person in an election and the number of votes gained by the other parties or people:

• No single party is likely to win a majority.

ˌabsolute maˈjority [singular]

when a party or person wins more than half of the total votes in an election:

• If the candidate obtains an absolute majority, he is appointed Chancellor by the Federal President.

3. [uncountable] LAW the age at which someone legally becomes a responsible adult:

• The Family Law Reform Act 1969 reduced the age of majority to 18.

[m0] ▪ II. majority majority ² adjective [only before a noun] FINANCE

used to say that a someone owns more than half the shares in a company:

• It will hold a majority stake in the new company.

• The group said it did not plan to takemajority control of the investment company.

• the bank's majority shareholder

* * *

Ⅰ.

majority UK US /məˈdʒɒrəti/ noun (plural majorities)

► [S] most of the people or things in a group: »The majority of our prepayment customers are people on a low income.
»Improved economic conditions for the majority have led to big increases in ownership of consumer goods, cars, houses, and clothing.
vast/overwhelming/great majority (of sth) »The vast majority of tickets are sold through the website.
be in a/the majority »Men are still in the majority when it comes to senior management positions.

► [C] the difference between the number of votes received by a political party, group, etc. that wins an election or discussion and the parties or groups that lose: »The amendment has divided Democrats and could cost the party its newly won majority.
»majority voting/a majority vote
by a majority of sth to sth »A recent poll found that voters were in favor of the resolution by a majority of 71% to 24%.
clear/comfortable/large majority »The chairman must continue taking votes until one nominee has a clear majority.

► [U] LAW the age at which someone is legally considered to be an adult: someone's majority »She will inherit the business when she reaches her majority.

→ See also EARLY MAJORITY(Cf. ↑early majority), LATE MAJORITY(Cf. ↑late majority)

Ⅱ.

majority UK US /məˈdʒɒrəti/ adjective [before noun]

► FINANCE, STOCK MARKET used to refer to the situation when a person or organization owns more shares in a company than any other shareholder, and enough to be in control of the company: »According to government requirements, the airline must not fall into foreign majority control.
»The group's majority shareholder has been accused of withholding financial data.
»Profits have soared, thanks in part to the company's majority ownership of the country's most successful newspaper group.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Synonyms:

Greater number, more than half / Manhood, full age / majorship

Look at other dictionaries:

majority — We are concerned here with three related uses, two of them relatively straightforward and one that gives rise to a difficulty: 1. majority = ‘a superiority in numbers’, especially in political contexts, ‘the amount by which a winning vote exceeds … Modern English usage
majority — ma·jor·i·ty /mə jȯr ə tē/ n pl ties 1 a: legal age b: the status of one who has reached legal age 2 a: a number or quantity greater than half of a total compare plu … Law dictionary
Majority — • The state of a person or thing greater, or superior, in relation to another person or thing Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Majority Majority … Catholic encyclopedia
Majority — Ma*jor i*ty, n.; pl. {Majorities}. [F. majorit[ e]. See {Major}.] 1. The quality or condition of being major or greater; superiority. Specifically: (a) The military rank of a major. (b) The condition of being of full age, or authorized by law to… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
majority — majority, plurality are arbitrarily defined in the United States, especially by statute, when they refer to an excess of votes as determining an election. Both imply an excess of votes over the next highest candidate. The distinction between the… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
majority — ► NOUN (pl. majorities) 1) the greater number. 2) Brit. the number by which the votes cast for one party or candidate exceed those for the next. 3) the age when a person is legally considered a full adult, usually 18 or 21. USAGE Strictly… … English terms dictionary
majority — (n.) 1550s, condition of being greater, superiority, from M.Fr. majorité (16c.), from M.L. majoritatem (nom. majoritas) majority, from L. maior greater (see MAJOR (Cf. major) (adj.)). Sense of state of being of full age is attested from 1560s;… … Etymology dictionary
majority — [n1] plurality, most best part*, bulk, greater number, greater part, larger part, lion’s share*, mass, max*, more, more than half*, preponderance, superiority; concepts 766,829,835 Ant. minority, secondary majority [n2] adulthood age of consent,… … New thesaurus
majority — [mə jôr′ə tē, məjär′ə tē] n. pl. majorities [Fr majorité < ML majoritas < L major: see MAJOR] 1. [also with pl. v.] the greater part or larger number; more than half of a total ☆ 2. the number by which the votes cast for the candidate, bill … English World dictionary
Majority — This article is about the mathematical concept of majority. For other uses, see Majority (disambiguation). A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset… … Wikipedia

Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

majority

Look at other dictionaries:

Share the article and excerpts

Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Financial and business terms

majority

Look at other dictionaries:

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link