Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of chief concern or importance.
  • adjective Highest in rank, power, or authority.
  • noun One that has the highest rank, power, or authority.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Supreme; superior in power or jurisdiction; chief: as, lord paramount, the supreme lord of a fee, or of lands, tenements, and hereditaments.
  • Above; superior to: with a prepositional force.
  • Eminent; of the highest order; especially, of chief or superior importance; above all others as regards importance; superior: as, the paramount duty of a citizen.
  • noun The chief; the highest in rank or importance; a superior.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having the highest rank or jurisdiction; superior to all others; chief; supreme; preëminent.
  • adjective (Archery) the lady making the best score.
  • adjective the king.
  • noun The highest or chief.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Supreme; highest.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having superior power and influence

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Anglo-Norman paramont, above : par, by (from Latin per; see per in Indo-European roots) + amont, above, upward; see amount.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French, from par, per ("by") + amont, amount ("above, upward"), from Latin ad montem ("to a mountain"); see amount.

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Examples

Comments

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  • CDO: more important than anything else:

    There are many priorities, but reducing the budget deficit is paramount/is of paramount importance.

    August 23, 2008

  • hello agian i found this word in my old ceramics book by Glen Nelsen.The final potted form is the paramount concern to most artist.

    September 30, 2010