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to major

to major

5 3.8
To study a subject as their main field at university
  • verb
  • /ˈmeɪdʒər/
translation icon : especializarse en
  • I'm gonna major in English Lit.

I at the time I was double majoring and I had a professor.

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Examples

  • What did you major in at Yale?

  • I think I'm gonna major in architecture.

  • So what are you gonna major in?

  • What did you major in?

  • "What should I major in?"

    Blog text (5)
  • And I, I would say, yes, you, you should major in philosophy.

  • All students planning on becoming teachers in Massachusetts must major in an academic subject.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Now, I know not all of you are going to end up majoring in psychology.

  • So, Becky, have you thought about what you'll major in at college?

  • In college, I decided to major in biology because I love science.

Compounds

81 3.4

The highest level of professional sport where the best players play

51 3.2

An important problem that needs a solution

29 3.8

A person or company that has a lot of power in a field

major surgery
  • Specialized
12 4.0

A serious operation on the body that doctors do while you are asleep and that has more risk

sergeant major
  • Specialized
7 6.1

A senior soldier who advises officers and keeps order in a unit

A baseball player who plays for a top professional team

6 4.6

A country with strong military and political influence worldwide

A senior army officer who commands large groups of soldiers

A team that plays at the highest professional level in a sport

3 5.0

A leader who directs a marching band and leads it in parades

2 3.5

A major key with no sharps or flats that uses only the white keys on a piano

major scale
  • Specialized
1 3.7

A set of seven notes with whole steps except half steps between the third and fourth and seventh and eighth

1 6.8

A senior soldier who helps run a group of soldiers and manages discipline and administration

major screwup
  • Informal
1 5.6

A big mistake that causes serious problems

1 3.6

A large world like Earth that moves around the Sun and shines by reflected light

A team that plays in the top professional sports league, like baseball

1 6.1

A period of severe sadness and loss of interest that makes daily life hard

major key
  • Specialized
1 4.9

A set of musical notes that sounds bright and happy

major mode
  • Specialized
1 6.3

A way of using the major scale in music that sounds bright and happy

major premise
  • Specialized
1 7.4

A general statement that includes the main word in the conclusion, for example 'All humans are mortal'

1 7.3

A group of stars in the northern sky that look like a big bear

variola major
  • Specialized
1 9.2

A severe, common form of smallpox that often caused fever, many skin sores, and many deaths

A sequence of notes C D E F G A B with no sharps or flats

A group of stars in the southern sky containing the bright star Sirius

epilepsia major
  • Archaic
9.9

An intense seizure when a person loses consciousness and their whole body shakes strongly

Astrantia major
  • Specialized
9.9

A garden plant with star-shaped white or pink flowers and leaves in a low clump

8.2

A serious mental illness that causes very low or very high mood

major axis
  • Specialized
6.3

The longest straight line through an ellipse that passes through its two special inner points

major diatonic scale
  • Specialized
7.2

A common eight-note pattern in Western music with small steps between third and fourth and seventh and eighth

A very important Jewish day when people fast, like Yom Kippur or Tisha B'Av

major form class
  • Specialized
7.7

A main group of words like nouns, verbs, and adjectives that show a word's role in a sentence

A big delay that stops or slows progress

9.9

A statement in a logical argument that contains the conclusion's main term

major suit
  • Jargon
8.1

A suit worth more points, spades or hearts

major term
  • Specialized
9.2

The term that is the predicate in the conclusion of a syllogism

6.6

Strong medicine that calms people with serious mental illness like schizophrenia

major lobe
  • Specialized
7.4

Main direction an antenna sends or receives its strongest signal

major mineral
  • Specialized
3.5

A substance the body needs in fairly large amounts to stay healthy

A person who manages the staff and daily running of a large house

4.9

A large chest muscle that pulls the arm toward the body and turns it inward

8.9

A back muscle that pulls the shoulder blade toward the spine

musculus teres major
  • Specialized
8.1

A muscle in the upper arm that pulls the arm back and turns it inward toward the body

7.0

A muscle in the upper back that pulls the shoulder blade toward the spine

pectoralis major
  • Specialized
4.6

A large chest muscle that helps move the arm toward the body and turn it

A person who leads a bagpipe band and arranges the music

Plantago major
  • Specialized
6.6

A common plant with broad leaves that grows in lawns and gardens

scale of C major
  • Specialized
3.7

A set of notes from C to B with no sharps or flats

A blue-grey fish with black stripes that lives in warm shallow seas

teres major
  • Specialized
7.4

A thick round muscle in the upper back that turns the arm toward the body

teres major muscle
  • Specialized
7.0

A muscle in the upper back that moves the arm and turns it inward

thalassemia major
  • Specialized
9.6

A severe inherited blood disease that causes very low red blood cells and needs regular transfusions

variola major virus
  • Specialized
7.7

A very deadly form of smallpox that often causes death

Vinca major
  • Specialized
8.3

A trailing evergreen plant with shiny green and white leaves and blue or purple flowers

vis major
  • Formal
9.9

A strong natural event like an earthquake or flood that you cannot stop and that stops normal life

How Focused

to specialize in
  • US
165 3.9
to major
5 3.8
to minor
  • US
4.8
to study
1.0

Surface Forms

major infinitive
majored past
majored past participle
majoring present participle
majors third person singular

Etymology

Major as a verb comes from the same root maior meaning 'greater' and it simply means to make a subject your main or 'greater' field of study. So to major in biology is to study biology as your main subject.