paramount

paramount

See also: Paramount

English

WOTD – 11 June 2021

Etymology

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

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹəmaʊnt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹəˌmaʊnt/, /ˈpɛ-/
• Hyphenation: par‧a‧mount

Adjective

paramount (not comparable)

1. (often postpositive) Highest, supreme; also, chief, leading, pre-eminent.

   Synonym: utmost

   Antonym: paravail

   • 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 1086746628, page 68:

     […] a Traitor Paramount;

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, 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 483591931, 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.

2. Of the highest importance.

   Synonyms: crucial, imperative; see also Thesaurus:important

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:insignificant

   Getting those credit cards paid off is paramount.

3. (obsolete) Of a law, right, etc.: having precedence over or superior to another.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:superior

Derived terms

• lady paramount
• lord paramount
• paramount chief
• paramountcy
• paramountly
• paramountness
• paramountship
• paramount title

 

Translations

highest, supreme — See also translations at supreme

Arabic: أعلى فائق‎ ('aelaa fayiq) Bulgarian: върховен (bg) (vǎrhoven), висш (bg) (visš) Chinese: Mandarin: 無上／无上 (zh) (wúshàng), 至高無上／至高无上 (zh) (zhìgāowúshàng), 最高的 (zuìgāode) Dutch: opperste (nl) Finnish: tärkein (fi) Georgian: უმაღლესი (umaɣlesi) German: hervorragend (de), höchst (de), überragend (de), vorrangig (de) Gujarati: સર્વોચ્ચ (sarvocc) Hindi: सर्वोच्च (sarvocc), सर्वोपरि (hi) (sarvopri) Kazakh: абзал (kk) (abzal) Manx: ard-chummaghtagh, ard-niartal, ard-scanshoil Pashto: عالي‎ (ps) (aeli) Polish: prymarny (pl) Portuguese: vital (pt), supremo (pt), sumo (pt) Romanian: suprem (ro) Russian: первостепе́нный (ru) (pervostepénnyj), вы́сший (ru) (výsšij) Spanish: supremo (es), sumo (es) Swedish: överlägsen (sv) Turkish: azam (tr), ulu (tr), yüce (tr) Ukrainian: верхо́вний (uk) (verxóvnyj)

of the highest importance

Arabic: أساسي‎ (ar) ('asasiun) Bulgarian: най-важен (naj-važen) Chinese: Mandarin: 至高的 (zhìgāode) French: capital (fr), primordial (fr) Hungarian: mindenek felett való (hu) Italian: capitale (it), essenziale (it), fondamentale (it), primordiale (it), prioritario (it) Pashto: پارا مائونټ‎ Portuguese: primordial (pt) m or f Russian: главне́йший (ru) (glavnéjšij), краеуго́льный (ru) (krajeugólʹnyj), первостепе́нный (ru) (pervostepénnyj), приорите́тный (ru) (prioritétnyj), важне́йший (ru) (važnéjšij), архива́жный (ru) (arxivážnyj)

Noun

paramount (plural paramounts)

1. A chief or superior; (specifically, chiefly South Africa) an African chief having the highest status in a region; a paramount chief.
2. (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

chief, superior — see chief,‎ superior

African chief having the highest status in a region

References

1. “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.
2. Compare “per, prep.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “per, prep.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
3. 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

• paramount (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• paramount in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• paramount in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• paramount at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• paranotum