major

Forms

major m or f (plural majors)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish mayor (“greater”), a military borrowing: combined with other words, the Spanish adjective named various ranks and offices.^[2][3][4] Its pronunciation was influenced by Latin maior (“greater”), and perhaps also by the French majeur.^[2][3] The Spanish word, like Old French maior “greater”, comes from the Latin comparative of magnus (“great”).^[2][4] It is thus also a doublet of maire and mayeur.^[1]

Middle French had sergent majeur in the late 16th century, which sergent-major (1592) displaced.^[2][4] The Grand Robert and the GLLF cite the adjective in the sense “greater” from Rabelais,^[5][6] and the Grand Robert finds it in 13th-century Occitan.^[5] Bloch and Wartburg, however, see Rabelais's use as a Latinism with no direct link to the military word.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1592 in sergent major, in Monluc's Commentaires; the noun alone is recorded in a regulation of 1672.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Other compound ranks followed, such as tambour-major (1651) and major-général (before 1679).^[4][3] As a noun, major named from 1685 the rank above captain, still used in Switzerland and in foreign armies,^[4][6] and later the senior officer in charge of a regiment's administration.^[7][2] From 1756 to the 20th century it was applied to army nurses, doctors and surgeons;^[4][2] médecin-major was in use until 1928.^[4][2]

In the slang of Saint-Cyr, major de queue (1871) mocked the candidate admitted last; from 1893 major was the candidate ranked first in the entrance examination of a grande école, probably by extension of the military sense, the top student wearing the stripes of a sergeant-major.^[2][4] Since 1975 it has been the highest rank of non-commissioned officer in France.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1592 – Sergent major appears in Monluc's Commentaires.^[2][4]
• 1651 – Tambour-major is recorded.^[4]
• 1660 – Oudin records the noun for military ranks.^[6][8]
• 1672 – The noun major is used alone.^[2][4]
• 1756 – It is applied to army medical staff.^[4]
• 1871 – Saint-Cyr slang has major de queue for the candidate admitted last.^[2][4]
• 1893 – Major names the candidate admitted first to a grande école.^[2][4]
• 1931 – Major de promotion is recorded.^[2]
• 1975 – It becomes the highest non-commissioned rank in the French army.^[8][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (military) Higher in rank, in some compounds: sergent-major, tambour-major, état-major.^[8][10]

Noun

1. (France) The highest non-commissioned officer rank.^[8][9][1]
2. (historical) The senior officer in charge of a regiment's administration, called since 1975 head of administrative services.^[8][9]
3. (Switzerland, Belgium, Canada) A major, the officer between captain and lieutenant-colonel; in France the same rank is called commandant.^[2][1][9]
4. (historical) A military doctor.^[2][9]
5. The candidate ranked first in the entrance examination of a grande école;^[2][8] major de promotion, the student ranked first of the year: Elle est sortie major de sa promotion.^[2][8]

Word family

• état-major
• tambour-major
• sergent-major
• major-général

Related words

• majeur
• maire
• mayeur
• Spanish mayor
• Latin maior

Usage notes

Larousse also lists a feminine noun major, from English Major Companies, for one of the few most powerful companies in an industry.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)