喜樂美語

The bigger half of a group. Split any group into two sides; the majority is the side that has more — more than half. That one picture of 'the larger portion' carries into votes, into company shares, and (by a different route) into the age of being 'fully grown'.

可以想成「一群人或東西被分成兩邊時，比較大的那一邊」。majority 的核心畫面比較像「超過一半、人比較多的那一堆」。這個「較大的那一份」的想法可以延伸到投票（票多的一方）、公司股份（股份過半的一方），也以另一條路通到「年紀已經長到完整成人」的法定成年。

From the word’s history

From Latin maior 'greater' (the comparative of magnus 'great') + -ity; literally 'the state of being the greater part'.

源自拉丁文 maior「較大的」（magnus「大」的比較級）加上 -ity。字面就是「成為較大那一部分的狀態」，與核心畫面「比較大的那一邊」完全吻合。

etymonline (majority, n.); from Latin maior 'greater'

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

同家族的字

複數 majorities

意思相近

mostleadcontrolling interestadulthoodthe bulkmarginthe greater part

意思相反

minorityminority stake

原始詞典資料6 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

majoritynoun/məˈd͡ʒɒ.ɹɪti/

  • 1

    More than half (50%) of some group.

    • The majority agreed that the new proposal was the best.
    • Those opposing the building plans were in the majority, so the building project was canceled.
  • 2

    Any share or fraction that is bigger than any one of its counterpart shares or fractions (of the same whole).

  • 3

    In a parliament or legislature, the difference in seats between the ruling party and the opposition; (UK) in an election, the difference in votes between the winning candidate and the second-place candidate, or between the winning candidate and all of the other candidates combined.

    • The ruling party had a narrow three-seat majority in the legislature.
    • The winner with 53% had a 6% majority over the loser with 47%.
  • 4

    datedLegal adulthood, age of majority.

    • By the time I reached my majority, I had already been around the world twice.
  • 5

    The office held by a member of the armed forces in the rank of major.

    • On receiving the news of his promotion, Charles Snodgrass said he was delighted to be entering his majority.
    • He was a captain before he went to the front, and following the Argonne battles he got his majority and the command of the divisional machine-guns.
  • 6

    Ancestors; ancestry.

    • Of evil parents an evil generation, a posterity not unlike their majority; of mischievous progenitors, a venomous and destructive progeny.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。