Majority 在这里指的就是过半数；多数，即逾总数之一半或者超过50%。因此Majority opinion 为多数意见，指审理案件的半数以上的法官赞同的意见。在判例中，发生法律效力的是majority opinion。Majority opinion in a case is that written by one judge and joined by majority of the judges considering a given case. In short, it is an opinion joined by a majority of the court.

（知识拓展：关于majority的一些搭配：

Majority award 多数裁决；非一致同意的裁决。指由多数仲裁员的意见决定的而非全体仲裁员一致同意的仲裁裁决。）

Concurring opinion:除了半数以上的法官之外，有时也会有其他法官虽然同意半数以上的法官的最终判决结果，但却提出不同的判决理由，这些法官被称为concurring judge，他们所提供的判决意见被称为concurring opinion（并存意见）。A concurring opinion is a legal opinion written by a judge who agrees with the opinion reached by the majority in a case, but has different reasoning or would like to add something to the majority decision. 

Dissenting opinion: 此外，可能会有少数法官提出反对意见和相反的判决结果，他们的判决意见被称为dissenting opinion 反对意见。In a general sense, a dissenting opinion is simply an opinion that does not agree with others—especially one that goes against a mainstream opinion.

一般情况下，法院判决意见的书写顺序依次为majority opinion, concurring opinion, dissenting opinion。在有多名法官参加的判决中，majority opinion是由超过半数的法官做出的，但如果做出多数判决意见的法官人数并未达到半数时，他们的判决意见就被称为plurality opinion相对多数意见。A plurality opinion is the controlling opinion when no majority opinion exists, consisting of the the majority of the majority. Plurality opinion的法律效力比起majority opinion相对要低一点。

以下为相关示例：

But the state's highest court disagreed. “We reject the State's argument that this is a permissible length of time to inflict gruesome pain,” wrote Justice William Connolly for the majority opinion. 

Nebraska的州政府并未觉得这样有什么不妥，部分理由是因为行刑过程短短不过30秒，但该州的最高法院却不那么认为，William Connolly法官关于多数意见如是写道：“我们否决了该州的论据，认为这样长的时间足以造成可怕的疼痛。”

In many important U. s. Supreme Court cases, there is one majority opinion accompanied by several concurring and dissenting opinions. 

在美国最高法院的许多重要案件中，多数人意见往往与赞同判决但理由有异的意见和异议e

并存。