Mehrheit

German

Etymology

Calque of Dutch meerderheid (1719), itself probably a calque (± 1600) of French pluralité (“majority”), originating 1559. Old High German mērheit (“quality of being more”) had no attested continuation. Analyzable as mehr (“more”) +‎ -heit (“-hood”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈmeːɐ̯haɪ̯t/ (standard)
  • IPA(key): /ˈmɛɐ̯haɪ̯t/ (by a common merger)
  • Audio (Austria)(file)
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: Mehr‧heit

Noun

Mehrheit f (genitive Mehrheit, plural Mehrheiten)

  1. majority; bulk
  2. (politics) majority (specified as absolute Mehrheit)
  3. (politics) plurality (specified as relative Mehrheit)

Declension
Declension of Mehrheit [feminine]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative eine die Mehrheit die Mehrheiten
genitive einer der Mehrheit der Mehrheiten
dative einer der Mehrheit den Mehrheiten
accusative eine die Mehrheit die Mehrheiten

Synonyms

Antonyms

Further reading
  • “Mehrheit” in Duden online
  • “Mehrheit” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
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