Meanings
- not comparableset phrasePrimarily; most importantly.
First and foremost, there is currently lacking any single text which comes close to cataloguing the great variety of terms in use.
2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 23 more examples
"There are many things to be considered before that question can be answered properly," I said, sententiously. "First and foremost, do you love Mr. Edgar?"
1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLCBy addressing these questions, we hope, first and foremost, to learn more about the generally under-studied topic of Esperanto communication and, secondly, to contribute to research that goes beyond Esperanto and can have an impact on the work of researchers in other (linguistic) disciplines.
2022, Sabine Fiedler, Cyril Robert Brosch, “The aim of this book” (chapter 4), in Esperanto – Lingua Franca and Language Community, John Benjamins Publishing Company, →DOI, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, page 20That progress has taken over ten years and £20 million to bring to fruition. But, as Mands explains, the journey has been one that HSG has been almost obligated to undertake. "First and foremost, this is an environmental project," she says.
2023 December 27, Richard Foster, “New rail freight terminal leads the way”, in RAIL, number 999, page 39Synonyms: above all, chiefly, especially, namely, particularly, primarily, above all
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbPrimarily; most importantly.
Translations
Arabic بَادِئَ ذِي بَدْءٍ
- بَادِئَ ذِي بَدْءٍ (bādiʔa ḏī badʔin)primarily; most importantly
Chinese Mandarin 首先
- 首先 (shǒuxiān)primarily; most importantly
Czech na prvním místě
- na prvním místěprimarily; most importantly
Danish først og fremmest
- først og fremmestprimarily; most importantly
Dutch op de allereerste plaats
- op de allereerste plaatsprimarily; most importantly
Finnish ennen kaikkea
- ennen kaikkeaprimarily; most importantly
French d’abord et avant tout, avant tout
- d’abord et avant toutprimarily; most importantly
- avant toutprimarily; most importantly
German vor allem, in erster Linie
- vor allemprimarily; most importantly
- in erster Linieprimarily; most importantly
Hebrew בָּרֹאשׁ וּבָרִאשׁוֹנָה, קֹדֶם כָּל
- בָּרֹאשׁ וּבָרִאשׁוֹנָה (ba-rósh u-va-rishoná)primarily; most importantly
- קֹדֶם כָּל (kódem kol)primarily; most importantly
Hungarian elsősorban, mindenekelőtt
- elsősorbanprimarily; most importantly
- mindenekelőttprimarily; most importantly
Icelandic fyrst og fremst, aðallega
- fyrst og fremstprimarily; most importantly
- aðallegaprimarily; most importantly
Irish thar aon rud eile
- thar aon rud eileprimarily; most importantly
Japanese 何よりもまず
- 何よりもまず (nani yori mo mazu)primarily; most importantly
Norwegian Bokmål først og fremst
- først og fremstprimarily; most importantly
Portuguese primeiramente e sobretudo
- primeiramente e sobretudoprimarily; most importantly
Russian в пе́рвую о́чередь, пре́жде всего́
- в пе́рвую о́чередь (v pérvuju óčeredʹ)primarily; most importantly
- пре́жде всего́ (préžde vsevó)primarily; most importantly
Spanish antes que nada, sobretodo
- antes que nadaprimarily; most importantly
- sobretodoprimarily; most importantly
Swedish först och främst, framförallt
- först och främstprimarily; most importantly
- framföralltprimarily; most importantly
- i första handprimarily; most importantly
Vietnamese trước hết, trước nhất
- trước hếtprimarily; most importantly
- trước nhấtprimarily; most importantly
Cite this entry
first and foremost. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/first%20and%20foremost
“first and foremost.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/first%20and%20foremost. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “first and foremost,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/first%20and%20foremost.
Source: first and foremost on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.