mayor | OEDoS

mayor (Adjective) "larger," "older" 12th cent. From Latin maior 'id.' From Proto-Italic *mag-jo- "greater." From Proto-Indo-European *mǵ-i̯ó- 'id.' From *meǵ- "great." See also más. As for the origin of the surname: the Mayor was the master of a farmhouse or estate, thus called during the Medieval period. Indo-European Romance Asturian mayor, Portuguese maior, Galician maior, Catalan major, French majeur, maire, Italian maggiore, Romanian maior, Sardinian magiori Celtic Gaulish Magios (name) "great," Middle Irish maige "large" Germanic Gothic mikils "large," Old Norse mikill 'id.,' Old High German mihhil 'id.,' Old Saxon mikil 'id.,' Old English micel 'id.' (Middle English muchel, English much) Albanian Albanian madh "large" Hellenic Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas) "large" Armenian Armenian mec "large" Indo-Iranian Sanskrit máhi- "large," Avestan mazōi "big" Tocharian A māk "many," B māka 'id.' Corominas, J. & J. Pascual. Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e híspanico. 6 vols. Madrid: Gredos. 1991-1997. de Vaan, M. Etymological Dictionary of Latin and Other Italic Languages. BRILL. 2014. Real Academia Española. Diccionario de la lengua española. Online. 23rd ed. Madrid: Espasa Calpa. 2014. http://www.rae.es/. Sihler, A. New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin. Oxford University Press. 2008. Tibón, G. Diccionario etimológico comparado de los apellidos españoles, hispanoamericanos y filipinos. Editorial Diana: Mexico. 1988.