The major term is the predicate term of the conclusion of a categorical syllogism. It appears in the major premise along with the middle term and not the minor term. It is an end term (meaning not the middle term).
Example:
- Major premise: All men are mortal.
- Minor premise: Socrates is a man.
- Conclusion: Therefore Socrates is mortal.
The major term is bolded above.
This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.
Famous quotes containing the words major and/or term:
“He could jazz up the map-reading class by having a full-size color photograph of Betty Grable in a bathing suit, with a co- ordinate grid system laid over it. The instructor could point to different parts of her and say, Give me the co-ordinates.... The Major could see every unit in the Army using his idea.... Hot dog!”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“Frankly, I do not like the idea of conversations to define the term unconditional surrender. ... The German people can have dinned into their ears what I said in my Christmas Eve speechin effect, that we have no thought of destroying the German people and that we want them to live through the generations like other European peoples on condition, of course, that they get rid of their present philosophy of conquest.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (18821945)