WordofTheDay.US

Added 1 October 2026

foremost

/ˈfɔː.məʊst/ adjective

Categories: Describing WordsUncommon Words

Latin root: superlative Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about foremost at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  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.
    The exhibition features works by the country’s foremost artists.

adverb

  1. In front, prominently forward.
  2. First in time.
  3. Most importantly.

Origin

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-.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: frontmostfronttopbestfirstlyfirstforeforefrontoutsetaround

Back to today's word