foremost
/ˈfɔː.məʊst/ adjective, adverb, proper noun
Also a form of fore
- adjective Positioned in front of (all) others in space, most forward.
- adjective Coming before (all) others in time.
- adjective Of the highest rank or position; of the greatest importance; of the highest priority. “The exhibition features works by the country’s foremost artists.”
- adjective (nautical) Closest to the bow.
- adverb In front, prominently forward.
- adverb First in time.
- adverb Most importantly.
- proper noun A village in Alberta, Canada.
Synonyms
front frontmost forwardmost first greatest leading paramount primary principal top especially particularly world-class firstly first of all first off
Antonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective First in time or place; most advanced; chief in rank or dignity; as, the foremost troops of an army.
Etymology [OE. formest first, AS. formest, fyrmest, superl. of forma first, which is a superl. fr. fore fore; cf. Goth. frumist, fruma, first. See Fore, adv., and cf. First, Former, Frame, v. t., Prime, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “foremost”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details