different between majorities vs majority

English

Noun

majorities

1. plural of majority

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /m??d?????ti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /m??d?????ti/, /m??d?????ti/
• Rhymes: -???ti

Etymology

From Middle French maiorité, from Medieval Latin m?i?rit?tem, accusative of Latin m?i?rit?s, from Latin m?i?r (“greater”).

Morphologically major +? -ity

Noun

majority (countable and uncountable, plural majorities)

1. More than half (50%) of some group.
2. The difference between the winning vote and the rest of the votes.

3. (dated) Legal adulthood, age of majority.

4. (Britain) The office held by a member of the armed forces in the rank of major.

5. Ancestors; ancestry.

Usage notes

• Majority in the sense of "more than half" is used with countable nouns only; for example, "The majority of the members of the committee were in favour of the motion." While common in colloquial speech, it is often considered incorrect to use majority with uncountable nouns, as in "The majority of the time was wasted." In the latter case, it is preferable to use expressions such as "the larger part of" or "most of" instead of the "the majority of."

Antonyms

• (more than half): minority

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• dictatorship of the majority
• go over to the majority
• join the majority
• majority leader
• majority rule
• supermajority
• tyranny of the majority

Related terms

• major
• plurality

See also

• most

Translations