Major Planets: Those whose orbits lie outside the Asteroid Belt; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Also referred to as outer and event planets.

 

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Major Planets: Those whose orbits lie outside the Asteroid Belt; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Also referred to as outer and event planets.

Majority Shareholder: A shareholder who is part of a group that controls more than half the outstanding shares of a corporation.

Major-Minor: A major is a student's chosen field of study. It usually requires the successful completion of a specified number of credit hours. A minor is designated as a specific number of credit hours . . . View Full Definition

Major Scale: A collection of seven different pitches ordered in a specific pattern of whole and half steps.

Majority Voting: Voting system under which corporate shareholders vote for each director separately. Related: Cumulative voting.

Major Trading Area (MTA): Usually composed of several contiguous basic trading areas. A service area designed by Rand McNally and adopted by the FCC. There are 51 MTAs in the United States.

Minor Planets: Synonymous with inner planets; those planets whose orbits lie between the Sun and Asteroid Belt. See inner planets.

Supermajority: Usually a home financing bond, but also any other bond that has long-term coupons but short maturity; the mortgages may be prepaid, and the holders may receive the long-term yield after a sh . . . View Full Definition

Supermajority Amendment: Provision in a company's charter requiring a majority of, say, 80% of shareholders to approve certain changes, such as a merger.

Superior Planets: Planets whose orbits are larger than Earth's. The term is sometimes restricted to the three outermost planets: Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.