What do majority mean

Does a presidential candidate simply need the plurality of the votes to win or does the candidate need a majority of all of the votes cast in order to win? Plurality is a noun that, like majority , can mean more than half of the whole. For example, Gabriel won the plurality for school vice president with 40 percent of votes while Kiara came in with 35 percent and Carl with 25 percent.

Starting to see the difference? Majority and plurality voting are two legitimate types of elections under a democracy. In the United States legislative elections, candidates generally only need a plurality and not majority to win but not always—we see you, Georgia, Louisiana. But for the presidential election , both the plurality and majority of votes are involved.

In most cases again, there are exceptions , the presidential candidate who gets the plurality of votes in a state—the plurality winner —will receive all the electoral votes for that state. Style: MLA. English Language Learners Definition of majority. Kids Definition of majority. Legal Definition of majority. Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Test your vocabulary with our question quiz! Love words? Need even more definitions?

Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. Silent Letters When each letter can be seen but not heard. Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'?

How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". See synonyms for majority on Thesaurus. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Idioms about majority. Compare majority-minority. See major , -ity. Majority, plurality, in the context of an election, poll, or other voting situation resulting in a statistically based statement, both denote an amount or number larger than some other.

In situations in which only two candidates, options, or positions are concerned, the terms are interchangeable, though majority is by far the more commonly used: She beat her opponent by a large majority. When three or more choices are available, however, a distinction is made between majority and plurality.

A majority, then, consists of more than one-half of all the votes cast, while a plurality is merely the number of votes one candidate receives in excess of the votes for the candidate with the next largest number. Thus, in an election in which three candidates receive respectively , , and votes, the first candidate has a plurality of votes, but not a majority of all the votes cast.

If the three candidates receive , , and votes, the first has a majority of votes that is votes more than one-half the total of cast and a plurality of votes over the nearest opponent.

Words nearby majority major general , major histocompatibility complex , major hysteria , majoritarian , majoritarianism , majority , majority carrier , majority leader , majority-minority , major key , major league.

Quiz yourself on majority vs. It helps to remember what each term means first. Words related to majority bulk , superiority , preponderance , mass , more , max , prime , estate , maturity , seniority , manhood , womanhood , lion's share , age of consent , prime of life.