"first among equals" meaning in English

See first among equals in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-first among equals.ogg Forms: firsts among equals [plural]
Etymology: Calque of Latin primus inter pares. Etymology templates: {{clq|en|la|primus inter pares}} Calque of Latin primus inter pares Head templates: {{en-noun|firsts among equals}} first among equals (plural firsts among equals)
  1. (idiomatic) A person or position that is formally of equal rank to others in a group, but nonetheless takes a leading role within that group. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: more equal Coordinate_terms: man among men Translations (leading a group of equals): primus inter pares (Danish), først blandt ligemænd (Danish), ensimmäinen vertaistensa joukossa (Finnish), premier parmi ses pairs [masculine] (French), პირველი თანასწორთა შორის (ṗirveli tanasc̣orta šoris) (Georgian), első az egyenlők között (Hungarian), bheith i do shaoi i measc na sua (Irish), primus inter pares [Latinism, masculine] (Italian), prīmus inter parēs [masculine] (Latin), pierwszy wśród równych (Polish), пе́рвый сре́ди ра́вных (pérvyj srédi rávnyx) (Russian), primero entre iguales [masculine] (Spanish)

Inflected forms

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        },
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          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "lang_code": "da",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "først blandt ligemænd"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "ensimmäinen vertaistensa joukossa"
        },
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          "code": "ka",
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          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
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          "code": "hu",
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          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
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        },
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      "lang_code": "da",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "primus inter pares"
    },
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      "lang": "Danish",
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      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
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      "code": "fi",
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      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "ensimmäinen vertaistensa joukossa"
    },
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      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
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      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "lang_code": "ka",
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      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "პირველი თანასწორთა შორის"
    },
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      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "első az egyenlők között"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "lang_code": "ga",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "bheith i do shaoi i measc na sua"
    },
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      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "tags": [
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        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "primus inter pares"
    },
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      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "lang_code": "la",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "prīmus inter parēs"
    },
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      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "pierwszy wśród równych"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "pérvyj srédi rávnyx",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "пе́рвый сре́ди ра́вных"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "primero entre iguales"
    }
  ],
  "word": "first among equals"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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