Meanings
plural preeminences · alternative pre-eminence · alternative preëminence · alternative obsolete preheminence
- countableuncountableHigh importance; superiority.
In an era when political leaders promise deliverance from decline through America’s purported preeminence in scientific research, the news that science is in deep trouble in the United States has been as unwelcome as a diagnosis of leukemia following the loss of health insurance.
2012 January 28, Philip E. Mirowski, “Harms to Health from the Pursuit of Profits”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2012, page 87
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe status of being preeminent, dominant or ascendant.
More synonyms by meaning
nounhigh status importance owing to marked superiority
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpraeēminēntia
- Englishpreeminence
From Latin praeēminēntia.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَقَدُّم
- تَقَدُّم (taqaddum)status of being preeminent
Catalan preeminència
- preeminènciastatus of being preeminent
Chinese Mandarin 優越性 /优越性, 卓越
- 優越性 /优越性 (yōuyuèxìng)status of being preeminent
- 卓越 (zhuóyuè)status of being preeminent
- 重要性 (zhòngyàoxìng)high importance
Finnish etevämmyys, paremmuus
- etevämmyysstatus of being preeminent
- paremmuusstatus of being preeminent
- ylemmyyshigh importance
French prééminence
- prééminencestatus of being preeminent
Italian preminenza
- preminenzastatus of being preeminent
Latin praeēminēntia
- praeēminēntiastatus of being preeminent
Persian تقدم
- تقدم (taqaddom)status of being preeminent
Portuguese preeminência
- preeminênciastatus of being preeminent
Romanian preeminență
- preeminențăstatus of being preeminent
Spanish preeminencia, prestancia
- preeminenciastatus of being preeminent
- prestanciastatus of being preeminent
- preeminenciahigh importance
Cite this entry
preeminence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preeminence
“preeminence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preeminence. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preeminence,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preeminence.
Source: preeminence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.