Meanings
alternative præeminent · alternative pre-eminent · alternative preëminent
- not comparableExceeding others in quality or rank; of outstanding excellence, extremely notable or important.First known use 15th c.
China is still preeminent for its Goldfish, of which Pennant informs us that the most beautiful kinds, both for elegance of shape and richness of tinting, are taken in a small lake in the Province of Che-kyang.
1863, H. Cholmondeley-Pennell, “The Carp Family”, in The Angler-Naturalist: A Popular History of British Fresh-water Fish, with a Plain Explanation of the Rudiments of Ichthyology, London: George Routledge and Sons, →OCLC, page 116
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpraeēminēns
- Middle Frenchpreeminent
- Englishpreeminent
Borrowed from Middle French preeminent and its source, Latin praeēminēns, present participle of praeēmineō (“to stand out, excel”), from prae- (“pre-”) + ēmineō.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans skitterend
- skitterendexceeding others in quality or rank
Ancient Greek κατ’ ἐξοχήν
- κατ’ ἐξοχήν (kat’ exokhḗn)exceeding others in quality or rank
Bulgarian превъзходен, отличен
- превъзходен (prevăzhoden)exceeding others in quality or rank
- отличен (otličen)exceeding others in quality or rank
Catalan preeminent
- preeminentexceeding others in quality or rank
Danish fremtrædende
- fremtrædendeexceeding others in quality or rank
Dutch uitstekend
- uitstekendexceeding others in quality or rank
Finnish erinomainen, esimerkillinen
- erinomainenexceeding others in quality or rank
- esimerkillinenexceeding others in quality or rank
French prééminent
- prééminentexceeding others in quality or rank
German hervorragend, überragend
- hervorragendexceeding others in quality or rank
- überragendexceeding others in quality or rank
- herausragendexceeding others in quality or rank
Hindi श्रेष्ठ, सर्वश्रेष्ठ
- श्रेष्ठ (śreṣṭh)exceeding others in quality or rank
- सर्वश्रेष्ठ (sarvaśreṣṭh)exceeding others in quality or rank
Irish aireaghdha, dearscnaitheach
- aireaghdhaexceeding others in quality or rank
- dearscnaitheachexceeding others in quality or rank
- séaghainnexceeding others in quality or rank
Italian preminente
- preminenteexceeding others in quality or rank
Japanese 擢んでる, 卓抜な
- 擢んでる (nukinderu)exceeding others in quality or rank
- 卓抜な (takubatsu na)exceeding others in quality or rank
- ピカイチ (pikaichi)exceeding others in quality or rank
- 卓越な (takuetsu na)exceeding others in quality or rank
Korean 걸출한
- 걸출한 (geolchulhan)exceeding others in quality or rank
Latin praestābilis
- praestābilisexceeding others in quality or rank
Portuguese preeminente
- preeminenteexceeding others in quality or rank
Russian выдаю́щийся
- выдаю́щийся (vydajúščijsja)exceeding others in quality or rank
Spanish preeminente
- preeminenteexceeding others in quality or rank
Swedish framstående
- framståendeexceeding others in quality or rank
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
preeminent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preeminent
“preeminent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preeminent. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preeminent,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preeminent.
Source: preeminent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.