different between major vs prime

English

Alternative forms

• majour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English major, from Latin maior, comparative of magnus (“great, large; noble, important”), from Proto-Indo-European *ma?-yes- (“greater”), comparative of *ma?-, *me?- (“great”). Compare West Frisian majoar (“major”), Dutch majoor (“major”), French majeur. Doublet of mayor.

Pronunciation

• enPR: m?'j?(r)
• IPA^(key): /?me?.d??(?)/
• Rhymes: -e?d??(?)

Adjective

major (comparative more major, superlative most major)

1. (attributive):
   1. Greater in dignity, rank, importance, significance, or interest.
   2. Greater in number, quantity, or extent.

      Synonym: main

   3. Notable or conspicuous in effect or scope.

      Synonym: considerable

   4. Prominent or significant in size, amount, or degree.

   5. (medicine) Involving great risk, serious, life-threatening.

2. Of full legal age, having attained majority.

3. (education) Of or relating to a subject of academic study chosen as a field of specialization.
4. (music):
   1. (of a scale) Having intervals of a semitone between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees.

   2. (of an interval) Equivalent to that between the tonic and another note of a major scale, and greater by a semitone than the corresponding minor interval.
      1. Having a major third above the root.

   3. (postpositive) (of a key) Based on a major scale, tending to produce a bright or joyful effect.
   4. (campanology) Bell changes rung on eight bells.
5. (Britain, dated) Indicating the elder of two brothers, appended to a surname in public schools.
6. (logic)
   1. (of a term) Occurring as the predicate in the conclusion of a categorical syllogism.
   2. (of a premise) Containing the major term in a categorical syllogism.

Antonyms

• minor

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

major (plural majors)

1. (military) A rank of officer in the army and the US air force, between captain and lieutenant colonel.
   1. An officer in charge of a section of band instruments, used with a modifier.

      Meronyms: drum major, trumpet major

2. A person of legal age.

   Antonym: minor

3. (music):
   1. Ellipsis of major key.
   2. Ellipsis of major interval.
   3. Ellipsis of major scale.
   4. (campanology) A system of change-ringing using eight bells.
4. A large, commercially successful company, especially a record label that is bigger than an indie.
5. (Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand) The principal subject or course of a student working toward a degree at a college or university.

   Synonym: (UK) course

   1. A student at a college or university specializing on a given area of study.

6. (logic):
   1. Ellipsis of major term.
   2. Ellipsis of major premise.
7. (bridge) Ellipsis of major suit.
8. (Canadian football) A touchdown, or major score.
9. (Australian rules football) A goal.
10. (British slang, dated) An elder brother (especially at a public school).
11. (entomology) A large leaf-cutter ant that acts as a soldier, defending the nest.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

major (third-person singular simple present majors, present participle majoring, simple past and past participle majored)

1. (intransitive) Used in a phrasal verb: major in.

Related terms

• majorant

Translations

References

• “major”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• “major”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).

Anagrams

• Jarmo, joram

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin maior.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /m???o/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ma?d??o?/

Adjective

major (masculine and feminine plural majors)

1. larger (superlative: el major / la major—largest)
2. older (superlative: el major / la major—oldest)
3. main, principal
4. (music) major

Derived terms

• majorista
• majorment

Related terms

• majoria

Noun

major m (plural majors)

1. (military) major

Noun

major m or f (plural majors)

1. of age, adult

Further reading

• “major” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “major” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “major” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “major” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Czech

Noun

major m

1. major (military)

Declension

Further reading

• major in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• major in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Estonian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Major, from Spanish, from Latin maior.

Noun

major (genitive majori, partitive majorit)

1. major (rank)

Declension

Derived terms

• kindralmajor

French

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin maior. Doublet of maire and majeur.

• (France): French military authorities created in 1972 the rank of major (non-commissioned officer), which can easily be confused with the rank of major (officer) used in many countries, creating problems when communicating with allied forces.
• (Canada): English major. From the British traditional army military rank structure.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.???/

Noun

major m (plural majors)

1. (military, France) major, the upper rank of French non-commissioned officers
2. (military, Canada) major, the commissioned field officer rank

Derived terms

Coordinate terms

• capitaine de corvette (“capc”) (equivalent naval rank to the commissioned field officer rank)

Further reading

• “major” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Hungarian

Etymology

From German [Term?].

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?m?jor]
• Hyphenation: ma?jor
• Rhymes: -or

Noun

major (plural majorok)

1. farm

Declension

Derived terms

• majoros
• majorság

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma??or/

Adjective

major (not comparable)

1. (comparative degree of grande) bigger

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?mai?.i?or/, [?mäi???r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ma.jor/, [?m?j??r]

Adjective

major (neuter majus, positive magnus); third declension

1. Alternative spelling of maior.

Inflection

Third-declension comparative adjective.

References

• major in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• major in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ma.j?r/

Noun

major m pers (abbreviation mjr)

1. major (military rank)

Declension

Further reading

• major in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin maior. Doublet of maior

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ma.????/

Noun

major m (plural majores)

1. (military) major (military rank)

Romanian

Etymology

From French majeur.

Adjective

major m or n (feminine singular major?, masculine plural majori, feminine and neuter plural majore)

1. major

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From German Major, from Latin m?ior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?jo?r/
• Hyphenation: ma?jor

Noun

màj?r m (Cyrillic spelling ???????)

1. (military, Serbo-Croatian, Serbo-Croatian) major (rank)

Declension

Synonyms

• (Serbo-Croatian): bojnik
• tisu?nik

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

major c

1. a major
2. a Squadron Leader (in the British Royal Air Force)

Declension

References

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French prime, from Latin primus (“first”), from earlier pr?smos < *pr?semos < Proto-Italic *priisemos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“beyond, before”). Doublet of primo.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pr?m, IPA^(key): /p?a??m/
• Hyphenation: prime
• Rhymes: -a?m

Adjective

prime (not comparable)

1. First in importance, degree, or rank.

   Synonyms: greatest, main, most important, primary, principal, top

2. First in time, order, or sequence.

   Synonyms: earliest, first, original
3. First in excellence, quality, or value.

   Synonyms: excellent, top quality
4. (mathematics, lay) Having exactly two integral factors: itself and unity (1 in the case of integers).

5. (mathematics, technical) Such that if it divides a product, it divides one of the multiplicands.
6. (mathematics) Having its complement closed under multiplication: said only of ideals.
7. Marked or distinguished by the prime symbol.
8. Early; blooming; being in the first stage.
9. (obsolete) Lecherous, lewd, lustful.

Synonyms

• (having no nontrivial factors): indivisible

Hyponyms

• biprime
• pseudoprime
• semiprime
• (having exactly two integral factors): coprime

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

prime (plural primes)

1. (historical) The first hour of daylight; the first canonical hour.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, London: William Ponsonbie, Book 2, Canto 9, p. 314,^[1]

     His larum bell might lowd and wyde be hard,

     When cause requyrd, but neuer out of time;

     Early and late it rong, at euening and at prime.

2. (Christianity) The religious service appointed to this hour.
3. (obsolete) The early morning generally.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, London: William Ponsonbie, Book 1, Canto 6, p. 81,^[2]

     They all as glad, as birdes of ioyous Pryme […]

4. (now rare) The earliest stage of something.
   • 1593, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie, London, 1604, Book 1, p. 69,^[3]

     To this end we see how quickly sundry artes Mechanical were found out in the very prime of the world.

   • 1645, Edmund Waller, “To a very young Lady” (earlier title: “To my young Lady Lucy Sidney”) in Poems, &c. Written upon Several Occasions, and to Several Persons, London: H. Herringman, 1686, p. 101,^[4]

     Hope waits upon the flowry prime,

5. The most active, thriving, or successful stage or period.
   • c. 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 12,^[5]

     When I do count the clock that tells the time,

     And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;

     When I behold the violet past prime,

     And sable curls all silver’d o'er with white;

   • 1813, John Chetwode Eustace, A Tour through Italy, London: J. Mawman, Volume 1, Chapter 10, pp. 225-226,^[6]

     None but foreigners, excluded by their religion from the cemeteries of the country, are deposited here […] . The far greater part had been cut off in their prime, by unexpected disease or fatal accident.

   • 1965, Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone

     Once upon a time you dressed so fine. You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?
6. The chief or best individual or part.
   • 1726, Jonathan Swift, “To a Lady, who desired the author to write some verses upon her in the heroic style” in The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift, London: W. Bowyer et al., Volume 7, p. 396,^[7]

     Give no more to ev’ry guest

     Than he’s able to digest:

     Give him always of the prime;

     And but a little at a time.

7. (music) The first note or tone of a musical scale.
8. (fencing) The first defensive position, with the sword hand held at head height, and the tip of the sword at head height.
9. (algebra, number theory) A prime element of a mathematical structure, particularly a prime number.

10. (card games) A four-card hand containing one card of each suit in the game of primero; the opposite of a flush in poker.
11. (backgammon) Six consecutive blocks, which prevent the opponent's pieces from passing.

12. The symbol ? used to indicate feet, minutes, derivation and other measures and mathematical operations.
13. (chemistry, obsolete) Any number expressing the combining weight or equivalent of any particular element; so called because these numbers were respectively reduced to their lowest relative terms on the fixed standard of hydrogen as 1.
14. An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal system.
15. (obsolete) The priming in a flintlock.
    • 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, pp. 95–96,^[8]

      […] he pull’d the Trigger, but Providence being pleas’d to preserve me for some other Purpose, the Cock snapp’d, and miss’d Fire. Whether the Prime was wet in the Pan, or by what other Miracle it was I escap’d his Fury, I cannot say […]

16. (film) Contraction of prime lens, a film lens
    • Tomlinson, Shawn M. (2015) Going Pro for $200 & How to Choose a Prime Lens, ?ISBN: “By the time I shifted to my first autofocus film SLR with the Pentax PZ-10, primes were considered things of the past”

Synonyms

• (early morning generally): See Thesaurus:early morning or Thesaurus:morning
• (most active, thriving, or successful stage or period): bloom, blossom, efflorescence, flower, flush, heyday, peak
• (chief or best individual or part): choice, prize, quality, select
• (algebra: prime element of a mathematical structure): prime number (when an integer)

Antonyms

• (algebra: prime element of a mathematical structure): composite

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• primality

Translations

Etymology 2

Related to primage and primus.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pr?m, IPA^(key): /p?a??m/
• Rhymes: -a?m
• Hyphenation: prime

Verb

prime (third-person singular simple present primes, present participle priming, simple past and past participle primed)

1. (transitive) To prepare a mechanism for its main work.

   You'll have to press this button twice to prime the fuel pump.

2. (transitive) To apply a coat of primer paint to.

   I need to prime these handrails before we can apply the finish coat.

3. (obsolete, intransitive) To be renewed.
4. (intransitive) To serve as priming for the charge of a gun.
5. (intransitive, of a steam boiler) To work so that foaming occurs from too violent ebullition, which causes water to become mixed with, and be carried along with, the steam that is formed.
6. To apply priming to (a musket or cannon); to apply a primer to (a metallic cartridge).
7. To prepare; to make ready; to instruct beforehand; to coach.

   to prime a witness

   The boys are primed for mischief.
8. (Britain, dialect, obsolete) To trim or prune.

   to prime trees

9. (mathematics) To mark with a prime mark.

Synonyms

• (to apply a coat of primer paint to): ground, undercoat

Translations

Etymology 3

From French prime (“reward, prize, bonus”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?i?m/
• Rhymes: -i?m

Noun

prime (plural primes)

1. (cycling) An intermediate sprint within a race, usually offering a prize and/or points.
   • 1997 Arnie Baker, Smart Cycling: Successful Training and Racing for Riders of All Levels

     Most primes are won with gaps on the field; most sprints are in bunches.

Derived terms

• primer

Related terms

Anagrams

• Priem, emirp, imper.

Albanian

Etymology

From proj (“to guard, defend”).

Noun

prime f pl (definite plural primet)

1. remedies

Related terms

• proj

References

French

Etymology

From the feminine of Old French prim, prin, from Latin pr?mus, from earlier pr?smos < *pr?semos < Proto-Italic *priisemos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?im/
• Rhymes: -im

Adjective

prime (plural primes)

1. first thing

Derived terms

• de prime abord

Noun

prime f (plural primes)

1. reward; prize; bonus
2. premium (insurance policy)

Derived terms

• chasseur de primes
• en prime
• prime de départ
• prime de bienvenue

Further reading

• “prime” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• imper

Interlingua

Adjective

prime

1. first

Italian

Adjective

prime

1. feminine plural of primo

Anagrams

• premi

Latin

Numeral

pr?me

1. vocative masculine singular of pr?mus

References

• prime in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• prime in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?pri.me]

Adjective

prime

1. nominative feminine plural of prim
2. accusative feminine plural of prim
3. nominative neuter plural of prim
4. accusative neuter plural of prim

Spanish

Verb

prime

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of primar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of primar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of primar.

Tarantino

Adjective

prime

1. first