Etymograph

English

majoration

Majoration comes from Medieval Latin maiōrātiō, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- ‘great’.

  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
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500maiōrātiō2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1627majoration2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin maior
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English majoration
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, II. Century.: “there be five ways (in general) of majoration in…”.

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, English majoration
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500maiōrātiōWiktionary, English majoration
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1627majorationWiktionary, English majoration. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, II. Century.: “there be five ways (in general) of majoration in…”

Linked words

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

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

through Latin maior

mayor, merino, maggiore, 6 more

Today it means

noun Increase; enlargement.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “majoration”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin maior. 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- / majoration

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