majority (English)

Where does "majority" come from?

The English noun 'majority' traces its roots to the Latin adjective 'maior', meaning 'greater'[1]. This Latin root stems from Proto-Indo-European through Proto-Italic forms denoting comparative greatness[3][6][7]. In Latin, 'maior' combined with the suffix '-tās' to create 'maioritas'[4], which evolved into Medieval Latin 'maiōritātem'[1]. This passed into Middle French as 'maiorité'[1][5], before finally entering English through morphological adaptation using 'major' and the suffix '-ity'[1].

Full etymology tree

majority (English), 'More than half (50%) of some group.'
- inherited maiorité (Middle French), 'majority (state of being a major; of having attained the age of an adult)'
  - inherited maioritas (Latin), 'majority'
    - derived maior (Latin), 'comparative degree of magnus'
      - inherited *magjōs (Proto-Italic), 'comparative degree of *magnos'
        inherited *méǵh₂yōs (Proto-Indo-European), 'bigger, greater'
        derived *méǵh₂s (Proto-Indo-European), 'big, great'
        suffix *-yōs (Proto-Indo-European), 'Forms adjectives from roots, meaning "very" or "rather".'

Ancestors

maiorité (Middle French)
maioritatem (Latin)
maioritas (Latin)
maior (Latin)
major (English)

Descendants and derived words

absolute majority (English)
antimajority (English)
dictatorship of the majority (English)
global majority (English)
go over to the majority (English)
hypermajority (English)
join the majority (English)
majoritarian (English)
majoritarian (English)
majoritize (English)
majority decision (English)
majority draw (English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris