Majority

Majority

A majority is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset considered; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset considered may consist of less than half the set's elements. In British English, majority and plurality are often used as synonyms, and the term majority is also alternatively used to refer to the winning margin, i.e. the number of votes separating the first-place finisher from the second-place finisher.

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Famous quotes containing the word majority:

    Our government is founded upon the intelligence of the people. I for one do not despair of the republic. I have great confidence in the virtue of the great majority of the people, and I cannot fear the result.
    Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)

    ... the majority of colored men do not yet think it worth while that women aspire to higher education.... The three R’s, a little music and a good deal of dancing, a first rate dress-maker and a bottle of magnolia balm, are quite enough generally to render charming any woman possessed of tact and the capacity for worshipping masculinity.
    Anna Julia Cooper (1859–1964)

    The majority of women, they have half-a-glass too much and let down their barriers a little. Then they wake up in the morning, riddled with guilt and think they can reclaim their virtue by saying, “I don’t remember.”
    Blake Edwards (b. 1922)