English Explanatory Dictionary

foremost

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Positioned in front of (all) others in space, most forward.
  2. Coming before (all) others in time.
  3. Of the highest rank or position; of the greatest importance; of the highest priority.
  4. Closest to the bow.
adv
  1. In front, prominently forward.
  2. First in time.
  3. Most importantly.
name
  1. A village in Alberta, Canada.

Pronunciation

/ˈfɔː.məʊst/ en-us-foremost.ogg

Word forms

foremost

Etymology

From Old English formest, fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”), from Proto-Germanic *frumistaz, from the locative stem *fur-, *fr- + the superlative suffix *-umistaz, stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr-. The suffix *-umistaz was a compound suffix, created from the rarer comparative suffix *-umô (as in Old English fruma) + the regular superlative suffix *-istaz (English -est); *-umô in turn is from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-. Cognate with Old Frisian formest, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists). See for, first and Old English fruma for more. Partially cognate to primus, from Proto-Indo-European *pr- + Latin superlative suffix -imus, from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-. A comparative former was back-formed analogically, leaving the m from *-umô in place. Later the Old English suffix complex -(u)m-est was conflated with the word most through folk etymology, so that the word is now interpreted as fore + -most.

Synonyms

front frontmost forwardmost first greatest leading paramount primary principal top especially particularly

Antonyms

back backmost hindmost rear rearmost rearwardmost aftermost

Derived words

foremostly headforemost sternforemost first and foremost put one's best foot foremost
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