Etymograph

English

majorat

Majorat comes from French majorat, from majeur ‘of great importance, main, major, principal,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meǵh₂-1‘great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂yōs1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*majjōs1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaior2‘larger, greater’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600majeur2
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentmajeur3‘of great importance, main, major, principal, greatest’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentmajorat4
  8. Englishtodaymajorat4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin maior
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French majeur
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French majorat
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English majorat

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meǵh₂-Wiktionary, Latin maior‘great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂yōsWiktionary, Latin maiorreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*majjōsWiktionary, Latin maiorreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaiorWiktionary, French majeur‘larger, greater’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600majeurWiktionary, French majeur
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentmajeurWiktionary, French majorat‘of great importance, main, major, principal, greatest’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentmajoratWiktionary, English majorat
  8. EnglishtodaymajoratWiktionary, English majorat

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- ‘great’

much, mastery, magistrate, maestro, meister, masterly, magisterium, 7 more

through Latin maior ‘larger, greater’

mayor, merino, maggiore, 6 more

Today it means

noun primogeniture

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “majorat”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin maior, French majeur, French majorat. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- / majorat

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