View source for majority

==English==
{{wikipedia}}

===Etymology===
From {{bor|en|frm|maiorité|maiorité}}, from {{der|en|ML.|māiōritātem}}, accusative of {{der|en|la|māiōritās}}, from {{der|en|la|māiōr|t=greater}}.

Morphologically {{suffix|en|major|ity|nocat=1}}

===Pronunciation===
* {{IPA|en|/məˈd͡ʒɒɹɪti/|a=RP}}
* {{IPA|en|/məˈd͡ʒɑɹɪti/|/məˈd͡ʒɔɹɪti/|a=US}}
* {{audio|en|en-us-majority.ogg|a=US}}
* {{rhymes|en|ɒɹɪti|s=4}}

===Noun===
{{en-noun|~}}

# More than [[half]] (50%) of some group.
#: {{ant|en|minority}}
#: {{hypo|en|absolute majority|double majority|qualified majority|silent majority|simple majority|supermajority}}
#: {{cot|en|plurality}}
#: {{ux|en|The '''majority''' agreed that the new proposal was the best.}}
#: {{ux|en|Those opposing the building plans were in the '''majority''', so the building project was canceled.}}
#* {{quote-book
|en
|year=1803
|title={{w|Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment}} to the [[United States]] [[Constitution]]
|text=The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a '''majority''' of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such '''majority''', then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a '''majority''' of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|year=1920|title=[[S:Democratic Achievement|Democratic Achievement]]| author=Champ Clark| passage=But in 1912 the American people gave the Democrats another opportunity, and under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson we swept the country from sea to sea. At the end of that historic contest we had the Presidency, the Senate by a working majority, and the House by an overwhelming majority.}}
# In a parliament or legislature, the difference in seats between the ruling party and the opposition; {{lb|en|UK}} in an election, the difference in votes between the winning candidate and the second-place candidate.
#: {{ux|en|The ruling party had a narrow three-seat '''majority''' in the legislature.}}
#: {{ux|en|The winner with 53% had a 6% '''majority''' over the loser with 47%.}}
# {{lb|en|dated}} Legal adulthood, [[age of majority]].
#: {{ux|en|By the time I reached my '''majority''', I had already been around the world twice.}}
# {{lb|en|UK}} The office held by a member of the armed forces in the rank of major.
#: {{ux|en|On receiving the news of his promotion, Charles Snodgrass said he was delighted to be entering his '''majority'''.}}
#* {{RQ:Fitzgerald Great Gatsby|year=1953|chapter=VIII|page=150|passage=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.}}
# [[ancestor|Ancestors]]; [[ancestry]].
#* {{RQ:Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica|edition=2nd|passage=Of evil parents an evil generation, a posterity not unlike their '''majority'''; of mischievous progenitors, a venomous and destructive progeny.}}

====Usage notes====
* Not to be confused with a [[plurality]], i.e. the greatest share of a total (which may be less than half).
* In cases of [[vote]]s, the terms [[simple majority]] or [[relative majority]] are used to explicitly clarify a motion needs more votes in support of a proposal than against it; whereas the term [[absolute majority]] refers to more than half of all votes cast, including blanks and [[abstention]]s.

====Derived terms====
{{col4|en|vast majority
|supermajority|global majority
|join the majority
|majority leader
|majority rule|dictatorship of the majority|go over to the majority
|absolute majority
|simple majority
|tyranny of the majority
|majority decision|majority draw|majority owner|majority problem|sexual majority|working majority}}

====Related terms====
{{col4|en
|major
}}

====Collocations====
{{co-top|Adjectives often used with "majority"}}
{{coi|en|vast, great, overwhelming, large, simple, absolute, clear, immense, good, small, numerical, considerable, parliamentary, constitutional, silent, bare, absolute}}
{{co-bottom}}
{{co-top|Nouns often used with "majority"}}
{{coi|en|vote, opinion, leader, decision, view, party, group, report, verdict, support, status}}
{{co-bottom}}

====Translations====
{{trans-top|more than half}}
* Albanian: {{t+|sq|shumicë|f}}, {{t|sq|mazhorancë|f}}
* Arabic: {{t|ar|غَالِبِيَّة|f}}, {{t|ar|أَغْلَبِيّة|f}}, {{t|ar|أَكْثَرِيَّة|f}}, {{t|ar|مُعْظَم}}
* Armenian: {{t+|hy|մեծամասնություն}}
* Azerbaijani: {{t|az|əksəriyyət}}, {{t+|az|çoxluq}}
* Bashkir: {{t|ba|күпселек}}
* Belarusian: {{t|be|бо́льшасць|f}}
* Bulgarian: {{t+|bg|болшинство|n}}
* Burmese: {{t|my|အများစု}}
* Catalan: {{t+|ca|majoria|f}}
* Chinese:
*: Mandarin: {{t+|cmn|多數|tr=duōshù}}
* Czech: {{t+|cs|většina|f}}
* Danish: {{t+|da|flertal|n}}
* Dutch: {{t+|nl|meerderheid|f}}, {{t+|nl|merendeel|n}}
* Esperanto: {{t|eo|plimulto}}, {{t|eo|plejparto}}
* Estonian: {{t|et|enamus}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|enemmistö}}, {{t|fi|yksinkertainen enemmistö}}
* French: {{t+|fr|majorité|f}}
* Galician: {{t|gl|maioría|f}}
* Georgian: {{t|ka|უმრავლესობა}}
* German: {{t+|de|Mehrheit|f}}, {{t+|de|Majorität|f}}
* Greek: {{t+|el|πλειονότητα|f}}, {{t+|el|πλειοψηφία|f}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|többség}}
* Ido: {{t+|io|majoritato}}
* Indonesian: {{t+|id|mayoritas}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|maggioranza|f}}
* Japanese: {{t+|ja|多数|tr=たすう, tasū|sc=Jpan}}
* Kazakh: {{t|kk|көпшілік}}
* Korean: {{t+|ko|다수(多數)}}, {{t+|ko|과반수(過半數)}}
* Kyrgyz: {{t+|ky|көпчүлүк}}
* Latin: {{t|la|majōritās|f}}, {{t|la|plēritās|f}}
* Latvian: {{t|lv|vairākums|m}}
* Lithuanian: {{t+|lt|dauguma|f}}
* Macedonian: {{t|mk|мнозинство|n}}, {{t|mk|мнозинство|n}}
* Malay: {{t|ms|majoriti}}
* Malayalam: {{t+|ml|ഭൂരിപക്ഷം}}
* Maltese: {{t|mt|maġġoranza|f}}
* Maori: {{t|mi|nuinga}}
* Navajo: {{t|nv|agháago áníidlą́ą́ʼ}}
* Norman: {{t|nrf|mâjorité|f}}
* Norwegian:
*: Bokmål: {{t+|nb|majoritet|m}}, {{t+|nb|flertall|n}}
*: Nynorsk: {{t|nn|majoritet|m}}, {{t|nn|fleirtal|n}}
* Occitan: {{t+|oc|majoritat|f}}
* Persian: {{t+|fa|اکثریت|tr=aksariyat}}, {{t|fa|اکثریت ساده|tr=aksariyat-e sâde}}
* Polish: {{t+|pl|większość|f}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|maioria|f}}
* Romanian: {{t+|ro|majoritate|f}}
* Russian: {{t+|ru|большинство́|n}}
* Scottish Gaelic: {{t|gd|mòr-chuid|f}}
* Serbo-Croatian:
*: Cyrillic: {{t|sh|већина|f|sc=Cyrl}}
*: Roman: {{t|sh|većina|f}}
* Slovak: {{t|sk|väčšina|f}}
* Slovene: {{t|sl|večina|f}}
* Spanish: {{t+|es|mayoría|f}}
* Swedish: {{t+|sv|majoritet|c}}
* Tajik: {{t+|tg|аксарият}}
* Turkish: {{t+|tr|çoğunluk}}, {{t+|tr|ekseriyet}}
* Turkmen: {{t|tk|köplük}}, {{t|tk|köpçülik}}
* Ukrainian: {{t+|uk|бі́льшість|f}}
* Urdu: {{t|ur|اَکْثَرِیَّت|f}}
* Uzbek: {{t+|uz|aksariyat}}
* Vietnamese: {{t+|vi|đa số}}, {{t+|vi|phần đông}}
* Yiddish: {{t|yi|מערהייט|f}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|difference between the winning vote and the rest of the votes}}
* Azerbaijani: {{t|az|çoxluq, əksəriyyət|s}}
* Bulgarian: {{t|bg|мнозинство|n}}
* Burmese: {{t+|my|လူများစု}}
* Catalan: {{t+|ca|majoria|f}}
* Chinese:
*: Mandarin: {{t+|cmn|公決|tr=gōngjué}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|enemmistö}}
* Galician: {{t|gl|maioría|f}}
* Greek: {{t+|el|πλειοψηφία|f}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|többség}}
* Korean: {{t|ko|득표차(得票差)}}
* Macedonian: {{t|mk|мнозинство|n}}
* Norwegian: {{t+|no|majoritet|m}}, {{t|no|seiersmargin|m}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|maioria|f}}
* Russian: {{t+|ru|перевес|m}}
* Scottish Gaelic: {{t|gd|mòr-chuid|f}}
* Urdu: {{t|ur|اَکْثَرِیَّت|f}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top-see|legal adulthood|age of majority}}
* Bulgarian: {{t+|bg|пълнолетие}}
* Catalan: {{t|ca|majoria d'edat|f}}
* Danish: {{t+|da|myndighedsalder|c}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|täysi-ikäisyys}}
* French: {{t+|fr|majorité}}
* German: {{t+|de|Erwachsenenalter|n}}
* Greek: {{t+|el|ενηλικιότητα|f}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|nagykorúság}}
* Italian: {{t|it|maggiore età}}
* Macedonian: {{t|mk|полноле́тство|n}}, {{t|mk|полноле́тност|f}}
* Norman: {{t|nrf|mâjorité|f}}
* Norwegian: {{t+|no|myndighetsalder|m}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|maioridade|f}}
* Romanian: {{t+|ro|majorat|n}}
* Spanish: {{t|es|mayoría de edad|f}}
* Thai: {{t+|th|นิติภาวะ}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{checktrans-top}}
* Hindi: {{t+check|hi|अधिकांश}}
* Indonesian: {{t+check|id|mayoritas}}
* Malay: {{t-check|ms|majoriti}}
{{trans-bottom}}

====See also====
{{col4|en
|most
}}

===See also===
* [[Thesaurus:quantifier]]

===Further reading===
* {{R:OneLook}}
* {{R:MWO}}
* {{R:AHD}}
* {{R:Britannica Dictionary}}

{{C|en|Collectives}}