Ma*jor"i*ty (?), n.;
pl. Majorities (#). [F.
majorité. See Major.]
1. The quality or condition of being major or greater; superiority. Specifically: (a) The military rank of a major. (b)
The condition of being of full age, or authorized by law to manage
one's own
affairs.
2. The
greater number; more than half; as,
a majority of mankind; a
majority of the votes cast.
3. [Cf. L. majores.]
Ancestors; ancestry. [Obs.]
4. The amount or number by which one aggregate exceeds all other aggregates with which it is
contrasted; especially, the number by
which the votes for a successful candidate exceed those for all other
candidates; as, he is elected by a
majority of five hundred votes. See Plurality.
To go over to, or To join, the majority, to die.
Hear it pronounced