paramount
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See also: Paramount
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
| PIE word |
|---|
| *h₂éd |
From Anglo-Norman paramont, paramount (“paramount, pre-eminent; above”), from Old French par, per (“by”) + amont, amunt (“upward”).[1] Par is derived from Latin per (“by means of, through”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through; to carry forth, fare”);[2] amont and amunt are from Latin ad montem (“to the mountain; upward”), from ad (“up to”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“at; to”)) + montem (the accusative singular of mōns (“mount, mountain”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stand out, tower”)).[3]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpæɹəmaʊnt/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpæɹəˌmaʊnt/, /ˈpɛ-/
- Hyphenation: par‧a‧mount
Adjective[edit]
paramount (not comparable)
- (often postpositive) Highest, supreme; also, chief, leading, pre-eminent.
- 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC, page 68:
- […] a Traitor Paramount;
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 168:
- Hitherto she had chiefly dwelt on her unkindness and neglect; but absence, like charity, covers a multitude of sins; and the thought now paramount was, that she should see her no more.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249:
- The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. […] The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.
- Of the highest importance.
- Synonyms: crucial, imperative; see also Thesaurus:important
- Antonyms: see Thesaurus:insignificant
- Getting those credit cards paid off is paramount.
- (obsolete) Of a law, right, etc.: having precedence over or superior to another.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:superior
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
highest, supreme — see also supreme
|
of the highest importance
|
Noun[edit]
paramount (plural paramounts)
- A chief or superior; (specifically, chiefly South Africa) an African chief having the highest status in a region; a paramount chief.
- (obsolete) A supreme ruler; an overlord; (specifically, historical) in the feudal system, a landowner who did not derive ownership of the land from anyone else, and who was able to grant fees to others; a lord paramount.
Translations[edit]
African chief having the highest status in a region
References[edit]
- ^ “paramount, adj., n., and adv.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “paramount1, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ Compare “per, prep.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “per, prep.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ Compare “amount, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “amount, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading[edit]
paramount (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - “paramount”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “paramount”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “paramount”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *h₂éd
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *per- (fare)
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- (stand out)
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- South African English
- English terms with historical senses
- English adjectives commonly used as postmodifiers
- en:Feudalism