majoration 
But majoration, which is also the work of refraction, ap- 
peareth plainly in sounds. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 254. 
Majorcan (ma-jor'kan), . and H. [< Majorca 
(see def.) (Sp. Mallorca) + -an.] I. a. Of or 
pertaining to Majorca, the largest of the Bale- 
aric Islands, in the Mediterranean, belonging 
to Spain. 
II. . A native or an inhabitant of the island 
of M'ajorca. Also Mallorcan. 
majordomo (ma-jor-do'mo), n. [= F. major- 
dome = It. maggibrdomo, < Sp. mayordomo = 
Pg. mordomo, maiordomo, < ML. major domus, a 
house-steward: L. major, elder, ML. chief (see 
mayor); domus, gen. of domus, a house: see 
dniiie 1 .] A man employed to superintend the 
management of a household, especially that of 
a sovereign or other dignitary keeping a great 
establishment; a house-steward. In former times 
the majordomo of a roval household was commonly an 
officer of high rank and influence, often charged with im- 
portant ministerial duties in affairs of government. See 
mayor of the palace, under mayor. 
He took the ceremony which he found ready in the cus 
torn of the Jews, where the major-dmna, after the paschal 
supper, gave bread and wine to every person of his family. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 110. 
E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, II. 441. 
major-general (ma'jor-jen'e-ral), >i. A military 
officer next in rank below a lieutenant-general. 
In the United States army the grade of major-general has 
hitherto been the highest permanent one (see general and 
lieutenant-general), and in active service a major-general 
may be assigned to the command of a division, a corps, or 
an entire army. In the British and German armies major- 
generals are the lowest permanent general officers (brig- 
adiers in the former being temporarily appointed), and in 
action usually command brigades. Abbreviated M aj. -Gen. 
major-generalship (ma'jor-jen'e-ral-ship), 11. 
[< major-general + -ship.] The office of a major- 
general. 
Majorist (ma'jor-ist), n. [< Major (see def.) + 
3586 
it are ganja (or hemp) leaves, milk. i;hce, poppy-seeds, 
flowers of the thorn-apple (Datura), the powder of Nux 
vomica, and sugar. Qanoon-e-Islam, Glos. Ixxxin. (xule 
and Burnell.) See bhang. 
majuscula(ma-jus'ku-la), w.;pl. majuscula;(-le). 
[L. (ML.), sc. Utter'a, "letter : see majuscule.] 
Same as majuscule. 
majuscule (ma-jus'kul), n. [= F. majuscule = 
Sp. mayusculd = Pg. maiusculo = It. majusculo, 
a., < L. (ML.) majuscula, sc. littera, a somewhat 
larger letter (sc. than the minuscule), fern, of 
majusculus, somewhat larger, dim. of major 
(neut. majus), larger, greater: see major.] In 
paleography, a capital or uncial letter : opposed 
to minuscule Majuscule writing, writing composed 
of capital or uncial letters, as in the oldest surviving Greek 
manuscripts, and in the majority of Latin manuscripts 
down to the ninth century. In Greek paleography ma- 
juscule writing is not clearly distinguished into capital 
and uncial writing, as in Latin (true capitals being con- 
fined to superscriptions, in imitation of the lapidary style), 
and all three adjectives are often alike applied to it See 
capital, cursive, minuscule, uncial. 
In Latin majuscule writing there exist both capitals and 
uncials, each class distinct. In Greek MSS. pure capital- 
letter writing was never employed (except occasionally for 
ornamental titles at a late time). Encyc. Brit. , XVIII. 146. 
makable (ma'ka-bl), a. [< make^ + -able.] 
Capable of being made ; effeetible ; feasible. 
Makassar oil. See Macassar oil, under oil. 
make 1 (mak), r.; pret. and pp. made, ppr. mak- 
ing. [< ME. maken, makien(pret. makede, makcd, 
pp.maked, maad,mad, imaked, imad, imade,etc. ), 
< AS. macian (pret. macode, pp. macod) = OS. 
macon =OFries.H/h'o, mekia,&\somatia,maitia, 
mritia = MD. maken, maecken, D. maken = MLG. 
LG. maken = OHG. machiiu, malthoii, MHG. G. 
macnen, make, in OHG. also fit or fasten to- 
gether (not found in Icel. or Goth. ; cf . Sw. 
maka, move, = Dan. wage, manage, < LG. or 
G.); cf. AS. genuec,ftt, suitable, = OHG. gimali, 
MHG. G. gemach, fit, suited, corresponding, = 
-i'c.J Of or pertaining to the Majorists or to 
their doctrines. Majoristlc controversy, a contro- 
versy which began in 1551-2 between Georg Major and Nik 
olaus von Amsdorf, in regard to the doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith. Major maintained that good works are es- 
sential to salvation, and Amsdorf was accused of believing 
that they are ahindrance to salvation. The controversy con- 
tinued till the adoption of the Formula of Concord in 1577. 
majority (ma-jor'i-ti), n. ; pi. majorities (-tiz). 
[= F. majority = Sp. mayoridad = Pg. maiori- 
dade = It. maggioritA, < ML. majorit(t(t-)s, < L. 
major, greater: see major and -ity.] If. The 
state of being major or greater; superiority; 
preponderance. 
Douglas, whose high deeds, 
Whose hot incursions, and great name in arms, 
Holds from all soldiers chief majority. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iii. 2. 109. 
2. The greater number; more than half the 
whole number: as, a majority of mankind; a 
majority of votes. See plurality. 
After all, it is my principle that the will of the majority 
should prevail. Jefferson, Correspondence, II. 276. 
3. The excess of one of two groups of things 
which have been enumerated over the other: 
as, the measure was carried by a majority of 
twenty votes; his majority was two to one. 
4. Full age; the age at which the laws of a 
country permit a young person to manage his 
own affairs and to exercise the rights of citizen- 
ship in most countries twenty-one years. The 
majority of a reigning prince usually occurs much earlier ; 
in France it used to be at fourteen years. See age, n., 3. 
This prince [Henry III.] was no sooner come to his ma- 
jority but the baron raised a cruel war against him. 
Sir J. Dames, State of Ireland. 
5. The office, rank, or commission of a major. 
Soon after his marriage Thompson became acquainted 
with Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire, who, struck 
by his appearance and bearing, conferred on him the ma- 
jority of a local regiment of militia. 
Encyc. Brit., XXIII. 309. 
6f. [L. majores.] Ancestors ; ancestry. 
A posterity not unlike their majority. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err. 
The majority, the great majority, the dead. To go 
over to or to Join the majority, to join the dead or de- 
parted ; die. 
majorship (ma'jor-ship), n. [< major + -ship.] 
The office or rank of major ; majority. 
majoun, madjoun, if. See majun. 
majun (ma-jon'), . [Also majoon, mnjonn, 
madjoun, majum; Turk, ma'jim, paste, putty, 
cement, electuary, a kind of taffy or prepara- 
tion of sugar with spices.] A green-colored 
intoxicating confection, commonly sold in the 
bazaars of India. The chief ingredients used in making 
being to; 
existence; cause to^xist as a dis- 
tinctTthing or entity; create, in either a primary 
or a secondary sense ; be the author of ; pro- 
duce: as, God made man in his own image; to 
make a book, or a will ; to make laws or regula- 
tions ; to make an estimate, a calculation, or a 
plan. 
The boke maad of Kycharde Hampole heremyte to an 
ankeresse. 
Hampole, Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), Pref., p. xi. 
Towardes the west, aboute a good bow shote, is Ager 
Damascenus, in the whiche place Adam was mode. 
Sir R. (fnylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 54. 
And God mode two great lights; . . . he mode the stars 
also. Gen. i. 16. 
What nature makes in any mood 
To me is warranted for good. 
Lowell, The Nomades. 
2. To give form or character to ; fashion ; fab- 
ricate, construct, form, or compose. Make is used 
with of, out of, or from before the material used, with before 
the means used, by before the operative agency or method, 
and for or an infinitive before the purpose or destination. 
And there the Jewes scorned him, and maden him a 
Crowne of the Braunches of Albespyne, that is White 
Thorn, that grew in that same Gardyn. 
MandemUe, Travels, p. 13. 
Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image. 
Ex. xx. 4. 
If my breast had not been made of faith and my heart 
of steel. Shak., C. of E., iii. 2. 160. 
Fairy tales are made out of the dreams of the poor. 
Lmtxll, Democracy. 
3. To fashion suitably; adapt in formation or 
constitution; design or intend in making: gen- 
erally in the passive, followed by for or an in- 
finitive with to. 
The sabbath was made for man. Mark ii. 27. 
Meat was made for mouths. Shak., Cor., i. 1. 211. 
This hand was made to handle nought but gold. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., v. 1. 7. 
Man was made to mourn. Burns, Title of Poem. 
4. To convert or transform, as into something 
different ; cause to receive a new form or con- 
dition : with into expressed or understood. 
He . . . fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had 
made it a molten calf. Ex. xxxii. 4. 
Sometimes it [the peacock] was made into a pie, at one 
end of which the head appeared above the crust in all its 
plumage, with the beak richly gilt. 
Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 277, note. 
5. To fashion by action or preparation; bring 
into condition or order; fit for use or service; 
arrange; prepare: as, to make hay or a crop; 
to make a garden ; to make a feast. 
Make me savoury meat, such as I love. Gen. xxvii. 4. 
make 
Wait upon me to Church, and then run Home a 
the Bed, and put every Thing in its Place. 
N. Bailey, tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, I. 68. 
The evening of the day you helped me to make hay in 
the orchard meadows, ... as I was tired with raking 
swaths, I sat down to rest me on a stile. 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, xxiv. 
6. To form, constitute, or compose; be the ba- 
sis, groundwork, material, or constituent parts 
of : as, milk makes both butter and cheese ; 
rye flour makes dark-colored bread ; he will 
make a good lawyer; two and two make four; 
citizens make the state. 
Thou would'st make a good fool. Shak. , Lear, i. 5. 41. 
Those continued instances of time which flow into a 
thousand years make not to him one moment. 
Sir T. Brmme. Eeligio Medici, i. 11. 
Stone walls do not a prison matte, 
Nor iron bars a cage. 
Lovelace, To Althea from Prison. 
7. To form, produce, or constitute by causa- 
tion or influence; be the cause or occasion of; 
give rise to ; raise up : used in both a physical 
and a moral sense : as, a wet season makes bad 
harvests ; to make an excavation or a vacuum ; 
to make a rent in a garment; to make a good 
impression; to make trouble; to make friends 
or enemies; to makes, mountain out of a mole- 
hill; to make merchandise of one's principles. 
Thanne Lecchoure seyde "alias !" and on owre lady he 
cryed, 
To make mercy for his mis-dcdes bitwene God and his 
soule. Piers Plowman (B), v. 73. 
The mind is its own place, and in itself 
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. 
Milton, P. L., i. 255. 
You may easily imagine to yourself what appearance I 
made, who am pretty tall, ride well, and was very well 
dressed, at the head of a whole county. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 113. 
8. To cause, induce, constrain, or compel: fol- 
lowed by an infinitive, usually without the sign 
to : as, to make a horse go ; to make a person 
forget his misfortunes ; to make anything seem 
better or worse than it is. 
Kynge Arthur made hem alle to sitte down by hym as 
he that was the curteisest man of the worlde. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 682. 
The Lord make his face shine upon thee. Num. vi. 25. 
A Stumble makes one take firmer Footing. 
Bowell, Letters, ii. 3. 
All the Paintings and Prints made of late years of the 
King make him look very old ; which in my mind is not 
BO. Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 220. 
9. To cause to be, become, or appear; put into 
the state or condition of being; afford occa- 
sion, opportunity, or means of being or seem- 
ing : as, to make one's wants known ; to make 
a person glad or sorry ; oppression made them 
rebels ; to make a law of no effect. 
Tyl Pacience haue preued the and parflte the maked. 
Piers Plowman (B), xiii. 212. 
Hope deferred niakrth the heart sick. Prov. xiii. 12. 
We stone thee . . . because that thou, being a man, 
malrest thyself God. John x. 33. 
And you have been a man long known to me, though I 
had never so good means, as desire, to make myself ac- 
quainted with you. Shak., M. W. of W., ii. 2. 189. 
You, and twenty thousand merks, 
Will make me a man complete, lady. 
Rob Roy (Child's Ballads, VI. 260). 
She sought to make me traitor to myself. 
Milton, S. A., 1. 401. 
Mr. Dangle, here are two very civil gentlemen trying to 
make themselves understood, and I don't know which is 
the interpreter. Sheridan, The Critic, i. 2. 
10. To cause to be in the condition of; con- 
stitute or appoint ; invest with the rank, pow- 
er, or attributes of. 
Who made thee a prince and a judge over us ? Ex. ii. 14. 
Pardon me, sir, the boldness is mine own, 
That, being a stranger in this city here, 
Do make myself a suitor to your daughter, 
Unto Bianca, fair and virtuous. 
Shak., T. of the S., ii. 1. 91. 
For the more Solemnity of his Coronation, he then made 
nine Knights, and created four Earls. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 136. 
11. To cause to be perceived; bring into view 
or apprehension; manifest by demonstration 
or representation : as, to make a show of devo- 
tion ; to make a feint of attacking. 
Lord cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss, 
Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope. 
Shak., alien. VI., iii. 3. 28. 
We generally make love in a style and with sentiments 
very unfit for ordinary life : they are half theatrical, half 
romantic. Steele, Spectator, No. 479. 
Thus, aiming to be fine, they make a show, 
As tawdry squires in country churches do. 
Dryden, Wild Gallant, Epil. (1667), 1. 38. 
12. Used absolutely, to bring into the desired 
condition; render independent; set up; estab- 
