supereminent

English

Etymology

From Middle French supereminent, and its source, Late Latin supereminens, adjectival use of Latin superēminēre (corresponding to super- +‎ eminent).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /suːpəɹˈɛmɪnənt/

Adjective

supereminent (comparative more supereminent, superlative most supereminent)

1. Superior to or notable above all others; outstanding; supremely remarkable. [from 16th c.]
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III, section 2, member 2, subsection ii:

     so far was beauty adored amongst them, that no man was thought fit to reign that was not in all parts complete and supereminent.

   • 1888 September 29, Henry James, “[The Modern Warning.]”, in The Aspern Papers; Louisa Pallant; The Modern Warning, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC:

     The conservatives had come into power just after his marriage, and he had held honourable though not supereminent office.

   • 1924, Felix Adler, The New Statesman 1924-03-08: Volume 22 Issue 568‎^[1], New York Society for Ethical Culture, page 633:

     But these two ideas: first, the supereminent claims of the State above the claims of any of the lesser groups included within it, the right of the State to crush out family affection and individual warfare in order to its own perpetuation,—as in the case of Brutus sentencing his own son, of Coriolanus, of the Horatii, etc.; and, secondly, the right of all who are willing to conform to the requirements of the State to be included within the domain of citizenship.

Synonyms

• preeminent
• supreme

Further reading

• “supereminent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “supereminent”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “supereminent”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “supereminent”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “supereminent” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.
• “supereminent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Latin

Verb

superēminent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of superēmineō