paramount

Meanings

Adjective

• Highest, supreme; also, chief, leading, pre-eminent.
• Of the highest importance.
• Of a law, right, etc.: having precedence over or superior to another.

Noun

• A chief or superior; an African chief having the highest status in a region; a paramount chief.
• A supreme ruler; an overlord; in the feudal system, a landowner who did not derive ownership of the land from anyone else, and who was able to grant fees to others; a lord paramount.

Origin

• From Anglo-Norman paramont, paramount, from Old French par, per + amont, amunt. Par is derived from Latin per, from Proto-Indo-European *per-; amont and amunt are from Latin ad montem, from ad (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd) + montem (the accusative singular of mōns, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men-).