Majority

A majority, also called an absolute majority, sometimes simple majority, to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total. It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a group consists of 31 individuals, a majority would be 16 or more individuals, while having 15 or fewer individuals would not constitute a majority. "Majority" can be used to specify the voting requirement, as in a "majority vote", which means more than half of the votes cast. However, an absolute majority requires more than half all votes including ballots of abstention.

A majority can be compared to a plurality (sometimes called relative majority), which is a subset larger than any other subset but not necessarily larger than all other subsets combined, and not necessarily greater than half of the set. For example, if there is a group with 20 members which is divided into subgroups with 9, 6, and 5 members, then the 9-member group would be the plurality. A plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset considered may consist of less than half the set's elements. This can occur when there are three or more possible choices. The absolute majority is sometimes referred to as a "simple" majority, compared to a supermajority (a majority requirement above 50%, like a 2/3 requirement), however use of the term is inconsistent as it sometimes refers to a mere plurality (as opposed to an absolute majority) and also refers to more than half, not including abstentions.

In British English the term "majority" is also alternatively used to refer to the winning margin, i.e., the number of votes separating the first-place finisher from the second-place finisher. Other related terms containing the word "majority" have their own meanings, which may sometimes be inconsistent in usage.