majordomo
See also: major-domo
English
[edit]
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Italian maggiordomo and Spanish mayordomo, from Late Latin māior domūs (“steward”), from Latin māior (“main, principal”) genitive singular of domus (“household”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌmeɪ.d͡ʒəˈdəʊ.məʊ/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌmeɪ.d͡ʒɚˈdoʊ.moʊ/
Noun
[edit]majordomo (plural majordomos)
- The head servant or official in a royal Spanish or Italian household; later, any head servant in a wealthy household in a foreign country; a leading servant or butler.
- 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 22, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
- Pancho, the major-domo, came up to say that Colonel Morales was waiting below. Appleby bade him bring out cigars and wine, and rose from his seat when Morales came in.
- 2002, Marta VanLandingham, chapter 7, in Transforming the State: King, Court and Political Culture in the Realms of Aragon (1213-1387), →ISBN, page 164:
- In return for ruling over the king's palace, serving as the monarch's alter ego in the domestic sphere, and bearing the burden of accountability, the majordomo was compensated amply.
- (US, Southwest) A manager of a hacienda, ranch or estate.
- 2006, Gray A. Brechin, chapter 5, in Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin, →ISBN, page 212:
- She called upon a Missouri cousin named Edward Hardy Clark, who became the indispensable majordomo of the Hearst estate.
- (chiefly US) Any overseer, organizer, person in command.
- 2009 June 7, The Economic Times:
- The United Nation's climate majordomo -- tasked with herding 192 nations toward a do-or-die deal by year's end -- does not have the power to impose an agreement on how to curb greenhouse gases and cope with its consequences.
Synonyms
[edit]Translations
[edit]head servant
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manager of an estate; overseer of a farm
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Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dem-
- English terms borrowed from Italian
- English terms derived from Italian
- English terms borrowed from Spanish
- English terms derived from Spanish
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- American English
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