Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The head steward or butler in the household of a sovereign or great noble.
- n. A steward or butler.
- n. One who makes arrangements or directs affairs for another.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A man employed to superintend the management of a household, especially that of a sovereign or other dignitary keeping a great establishment; a house-steward. In former times the majordomo of a royal household was commonly an officer of high rank and influence, often charged with important ministerial duties in affairs of government. See
mayor of the palace , under mayor. - n. See water-master.
Wiktionary
- n. The head steward or butler of a large household.
- n. Somebody who makes arrangements or directs affairs for another.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A man who has authority to act, within certain limits, as master of the house; a steward; also, a chief minister or officer.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the chief steward or butler of a great household
Etymologies
- Italian maggiordomo or Spanish mayordomo, both from Medieval Latin māior domūs : Latin māior, chief; see meg- in Indo-European roots + Latin domūs, genitive of domus, house; see dem- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The mom and dad need an assistant as much as the kids need a nanny, so I like to think of my job title as major-domo.”
The Huffington Post: Nancy Ruhling: Astoria Characters: The Stand-Up Nanny
“The White House major-domo glowered as the elderly black waitress wept quietly while serving.”
“We call this place the 'United Nations' for weddings," said Ben Sarfarazi, Martin's affable major-domo, who himself hails from Iran.”
The Washington Post: As diversity grows, Md. catering hall becomes a 'United Nations for weddings'
“Which I'm bound to say we did - mind you, our association wasn't a long one, but while it lasted I thoroughly enjoyed myself, playing major-domo in his household, for that's what it amounted to, as I soon discovered.”
“May it be a long war, thinks I, watching her bouncing out of sight, and then my attention was taken by the major-domo, muttering the eternal "Pajalsta, excellence," and leading me up the broad, creaky staircase, along a turning passage, and finally halting at a broad door.”
“And then, about ten days after I had started galloping her, a couple of Ruski staff captains jingled into the courtyard one morning, to be followed by a large horse-sled, and shortly afterwards comes the Count's major-domo to East and me, presenting his apologies, and chivvying us off to our rooms.”
“In the course of these preparations, the last person who was disturbed, excepting the physician himself, was the knight of Scotland, whom, about three in the morning, a sort of major-domo, or master of the household, acquainted that he must arise.”
“There's also Zazu, the royal family's major-domo, a gabby hornbill spouting unsolicited wisdom.”
“Bush was instead the president as major-domo: a succession of patrons from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan had found uses for his excellent manners and his obliging nature in subordinate roles and then had left him to manage the national estate just as the bills were coming due.”
“The noise was now so great, that more than one of the household came in, and amongst others the major-domo, a grave personage, already mentioned, whose gold chain and white wand intimated his authority.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘major-domo’.
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Collage's Words
subtle, calamity, impale, qat, painterly, piebald, surly, nihilistic, repine, slake, larder, sepulchre and 349 more...
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Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
discovered while reading this book.
tendril, spiraea, political asylum, bristly, sordid, reel, garish, dulcitude, gait, charlatan, lapel, august and 96 more...
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At Your Service
Servants who are traditionally male. Inspired by hernesheir's maids list (as well as Downton Abbey)
footman, chasseur, hurkaru, chobdar, lackey, jeames, manservant, pantryman, groom, palefrenier, coistrel, ostler and 106 more...
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Hyphenated Actual Words
These kind of stun me whenever I see them. Language is just so cool.
chuck-will's-widow, will-o-the-wisp, saw-whet, topsy-turvy, linsey-woolsey, ne'er-do-well, gung-ho, so-so, cul-de-sac, fleur-de-lys, service-berry, major-domo and 33 more...
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Hodgepodge
hodgepodge, squelchy, coddle, katydid, bubkes, zamboni, succotash, megaphone, subbookkeeper, joshing, emo, truckle and 30 more...
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Social Status
Descriptions of castes, social stati, ranks, etc.
scuppie, effete, plongeur, odalisque, major-domo, regnant, servitor, ignoble, poo-bah, gamine, fugleman, svelte and 1 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for major-domo.
Rob_Dahl "The major-domo departed with several attendants to execute his master's commands." Ivanhoe Jul 9, 2009