Majority
subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements
A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "Related terms" section below.
It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a group consists of 31 individuals, a majority would be 16 or more individuals, while having 15 or fewer individuals would not constitute a majority.
A majority is different from, but often confused with, a plurality (or relative majority in British English), which is a subset larger than any other subset but not necessarily more than half the set. See the "Related terms" section below for details.
Majority vote
In parliamentary procedure, a majority always means precisely "more than half". Other common definitions (e.g. the frequent 50%+1) may be misleading (see "Common errors" below).
Depending on the parliamentary authority used, there may be a difference in the total that is used to calculate a majority vote due to spoiled votes. Comparing the two most popular authorities in the United States: In Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (abbreviated RONR), spoiled votes are counted as votes cast, but are not credited to any candidate.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Majority” as subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7382648. The Library of Congress control number is sh85079982. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Majority” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.