mayor

• maiere, maieur, mar, mayere, meer, mehir, meir, meire, mer, mere, meyhir, meyr, maier, mayer, mayr, meyer, meyre, maiour, mair, maire, mare, mayre, maior, major, mawer, majer, mayour (obsolete)

From Middle English maire, from Old French maire (“head of a city or town government”), a substantivation of Old French maire (“greater”), from Latin maior (“bigger, greater, superior”), comparative of magnus (“big, great”). Doublet of major. Cognate with Old High German meior (“estate manager, steward, bailiff”) (modern German Meier), Middle Dutch meier (“administrator, steward, bailiff”) (modern Dutch meier). Displaced Old English burgealdor (“a ruler of a city, mayor, citizen”), burhġerēfa (“boroughreeve”), and portġerēfa (“portreeve”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛə/, (increasingly common) /ˈmeɪ.ə/

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪ.əɹ/, /ˈmɛɚ/ (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this pronunciation?)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: mare (monosyllabic form)
• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ), -eɪə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: may‧or

mayor (plural mayors)

1. The chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally.
   • 1907 Sept. 12, The Nation, page 222:

     The office of mayor has been the tomb of many political ambitions.

   • 1966 Mar. 31, Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks before the National Legislative Conference of the National League of Cities:

     When the burdens of the Presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself that it could be worse—I could be a mayor of a city instead.

   • 1988, John B. Judis, William F. Buckley Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conservatives, page p. 291:

     While Buckley would later privately describe Chicago's Mayor Daley as a Fascist, he was not willing to let Vidal use the police to vindicate the demonstrators, who, in Buckley's mind, had provoked much of the violence.

   • 1993 Dec. 16, Bill Oakley et al., “"$pringfield"”, in The Simpsons, season 5, episode 10:

     Quimby: I propose that I use what's left of the town treasury to move to a more prosperous town and run for mayor and once selected I will send for the rest of you.
     All: Boo!

   • 2006, Ed Burns et al., “"Soft Eyes"”, in The Wire, season 4, episode 2:

     Carver: What the hell d'you say to him?
     Hauk: I said "Mr Mayor that's a good strong dick you've got there and I see you know how to use it." I didn't say shit!

2. (historical) Ellipsis of mayor of the palace, the royal stewards of the Frankish Empire.
3. (historical) Synonym of mair, various former officials in the Kingdom of Scotland.
4. (Ireland, rare, obsolete) A member of a city council.
5. (historical, obsolete) A high justice, an important judge.
6. (chiefly US) A largely ceremonial position in some municipal governments that presides over the city council while a contracted city manager holds actual executive power.
7. (figurative, humorous) A local VIP, a muckamuck or big shot reckoned to lead some local group.
   • 1902 May 22, Westminster Gazette, p. 2:

     In some parts the burlesque civic official was designated ‘Mayor of the Pig Market’.

   • 1982, Randy Shilts, The Mayor of Castro Street:

     The Mayor of Castro Street, that was Harvey's unofficial title.

• (female, when distinguished): mayoress
• (head of a town): burgomaster, boroughmaster (historical, of boroughs), boroughreeve, portreeve (historical); provost (of Scottish burghs & historical French bourgs); Lord Provost (of certain Scottish burghs); praetor (archaic)

(municipal principal leader):

• mayor, lord mayor, Lord Mayor (male mayor)
• mayoress, lady mayor, Lady Mayor (female mayor)

• ⇒ Cebuano: mayor
• → Swahili: meya
• → Tok Pisin: meya
• → Yiddish: מייאָר (meyor)

• “mayor, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.

• Amory, Moray, Raymo, moray

From Latin maior.

• IPA^(key): /maˈʝoɾ/ [maˈʝoɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ma‧yor

mayor (epicene, plural mayores)

1. old
2. older
3. (music) major

   Synonym: menor

• IPA^(key): /maˈjoɾ/ [mɐˈjoɾ̪]
• Hyphenation: ma‧yor

Borrowed from Spanish mayor, from Latin maior.

mayór (Badlit spelling ᜋᜌᜓᜇ᜔)

1. major

   Synonym: medyor

mayór (Badlit spelling ᜋᜌᜓᜇ᜔)

1. major

   Synonym: kinalabwan

Pseudo-Hispanism, derived from English mayor. The Spanish word for “mayor” would be alcalde.

mayór (Badlit spelling ᜋᜌᜓᜇ᜔)

1. mayor

   Synonym: alkalde

   • 2018 June 29, “Video nga Gi-upload 'Pagpanaut' kang Luigi”, in SuperBalita Cebu:

     Gihulagway sa tigpamaba ni Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing nga black propaganda aron pagdaot sa imahe sa mayor ang tuyo sa usa ka online post diin nagpakita sa mga babaye nga nag-party ug nagsayawsayaw sa yate uban sa opisyal.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Inherited from Spanish mayor (“elder”).

• IPA^(key): /maˈʝoɾ/, [maˈʝoɾ]
• Hyphenation: ma‧yor

mayor

1. elder; older

From Latin maior (“major”).

mayor

1. major (military rank).

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002), Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

From Dutch majoor, from Spanish mayor, from Latin maior.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈmajor/ [ˈma.jɔr]
• Rhymes: -ajor
• Syllabification: ma‧yor

mayor (plural mayor-mayor)

1. major (military rank in Indonesian Army)
2. lieutenant commander (military rank in Indonesian Navy)
3. squadron leader (military rank in Indonesian Air Force)

• mejar (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore)

mayor (comparative lebih mayor, superlative paling mayor)

1. major

   Synonyms: besar, utama

   Antonym: minor

• “mayor”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

From Spanish mayor and Portuguese maior.

mayor

1. parent

• mayó
• mayo

mayor

1. great, major

mayor m or f (plural mayores)

1. obsolete spelling of maior

Inherited from Latin maior.

• Audio (Bolivia):

  (file)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ma‧yor

mayor m or f (masculine and feminine plural mayores)

1. comparative degree of grande: bigger

   Antonym: menor

   • 2024 April 29, Peter Valdes-Dapena, “Rolls-Royce amplía su fábrica para construir coches más despacio”, in CNN en Español‎^[2]:

     Los fabricantes italianos de supercoches Lamborghini y Ferrari también han informado de un mayor interés por los programas de personalización.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. comparative degree of viejo: older; elder

   Antonym: menor

   mi novio es mayor que yo

   my boyfriend is older than me

   tengo una hermana mayor

   I've got an elder sister

3. (of a person) comparative degree of viejo: old; at an advanced age

   Synonyms: viejo, anciano

4. of age; adult; grown-up

   Synonym: mayor de edad

   Cuando (yo) sea mayor voy a ser médico

   When I'm grown-up, I want to be a doctor.

5. major; main

   Antonym: menor

   una preocupación mayor

   a major concern

   la plaza mayor

   the main square

6. head; boss
7. (music) major

   Antonym: menor

8. (as a superlative, el/la/lo mayor) superlative degree of grande: the biggest
9. (as a superlative) superlative degree of viejo: the oldest
10. enhanced

mayor m (plural mayores)

1. (military) major (military rank)
2. boss; head

   Synonym: patrón

3. (literary, in the plural) ancestors

   Synonyms: antepasado, ancestro

4. old person

   Synonym: viejo

• Mayor is a false friend and does not mean the same as the English word mayor. The Spanish word for mayor is alcalde.

mayor f (plural mayores)

1. (nautical) mainsail

• “mayor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

mayor

1. picnic

Borrowed from Spanish mayor, from Latin maior. Doublet of meyor and medyor.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /maˈjoɾ/ [mɐˈjoɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ma‧yor

mayór (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜌᜓᜇ᜔)

1. main; principal

   Synonym: pangunahin

2. major

   Synonym: medyor

   1. greater in dignity, rank, importance, significance, or interest
   2. greater in number, quantity, or extent

• “mayor”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018