Definition of "major" []

• Greater than others in importance or rank: a major artist. (adjective)
• Great in scope or effect: a major improvement. (adjective)
• Great in number, size, or extent: the major portion of the population. (adjective)
• Requiring great attention or concern; very serious: a major illness. (adjective)
• Law Having attained full legal age. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The major medieval philosophers before the year 1000 are probably fewer than five in number (depending on how generously one wants to take the word ˜major™)."
• "Thus _e. g._, the large I shows that the triad on the first tone (in major) is a _major triad_, the small II shows that the triad on the second tone is minor, etc."
• "A _major triad_ has a major third and a perfect fifth, _i. e."