premier
UK /ˈpɹɛm.iː.ə/ · US /pɹɪˈmɪəɹ/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms premiers premiering premiered
- adjective Foremost; first or highest in quality or degree.
- adjective (heraldry) Most ancient; first to hold a specified status.
- noun (politics, UK parliament) The prime minister.
- noun (politics, Australia, Canada, South Africa) The leader of a state or provincial government and cabinet.
- noun (politics, non-Westminster) The government leader in a legislative congress or leader of a government-level administrative body; the head of government.
- noun (nautical, slang) The first lieutenant or other second-in-command officer of a ship.
- noun (Australia, sporting) The champion team of a particular season (especially as used in Australian rules football).
- verb To perform, display or exhibit for the first time. “The composer invited all his friends when they premiered the movie he orchestrated, we got to see it before anyone but the crew.”
- verb To govern in the role of premier.
Synonyms
first minister first lieutenant first mate prime minister PM chancellor premiere prime
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French premier (adjective), from Latin prīmārius. Doublet of primary.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective First; chief; principal; as, the premier place; premier minister.
- adjective Most ancient; --said of the peer bearing the oldest title of his degree.
- noun The first minister of state; the prime minister.
Etymology [F. premier, fr. L. primarius of the first rank, principal, fr. primus the first. See Primary, Prime, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “premier”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details