paramount

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French, from par, per (“by”) + amont, amount (“above, upward”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin ad montem (“to a mountain”); see amount.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpa.ɹə.maʊnt/
• IPA^(key): /ˈpæ.ɹəˌmaʊnt/, /ˈpɛ.ɹəˌmaʊnt/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Adjective

paramount (not comparable)

1. Supreme; highest; chief.
   • Francis Bacon

     a traitor paramount

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     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.

2. Of the highest importance.

   Getting those credit cards paid off is paramount.

Synonyms

• highest
• utmost

Antonyms

• paravail

Translations

supreme

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 最高的

• Finnish: tärkein (fi)
• German: höchst (de), überragend (de), vorrangig (de)
• Manx: ard-chummaghtagh, ard-niartal
• Portuguese: vital (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: suprem (ro)
• Russian: первостепенный (ru) (pervostepennyj) (pervostepénnyj), высший (ru) (vysšij) (výsšij)
• Spanish: supremo (es), sumo (es)
• Swedish: överlägsen (sv)
• Turkish: azam (tr), ulu (tr), yüce (tr)

of the highest importance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 至高的

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: primordial (fr), capital (fr)
• Hungarian: mindenek felett való (hu)

Noun

paramount (plural paramounts)

1. A chief or superior.

Further reading

• “paramount”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “paramount”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “paramount”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.