"first among equals" meaning in English

See first among equals in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-first among equals.ogg [Australia] 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 Translations (leading a group of equals): primus inter pares (Danish), først blandt ligemænd (Danish), ensimmäinen vertaistensa joukossa (Finnish), პირველი თანასწორთა შორის (ṗirveli tanasc̣orta šoris) (Georgian), első az egyenlők között (Hungarian), bheith i do shaoi i measc na sua (Irish), prīmus inter parēs [masculine] (Latin), pierwszy wśród równych (Polish), пе́рвый сре́ди ра́вных (pérvyj srédi rávnyx) (Russian), primero entre iguales [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-first_among_equals-en-noun-sX22NElQ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for first among equals meaning in English (3.1kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "primus inter pares"
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      "expansion": "Calque of Latin primus inter pares",
      "name": "clq"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "Calque of Latin primus inter pares.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "firsts among equals",
      "tags": [
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  "head_templates": [
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  "pos": "noun",
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Orthodox consider the bishop of Rome to have always been merely a first among equals.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, H. Y. Sharada Prasad, The Book I Won't be Writing and Other Essays, page 40",
          "text": "I wonder whether Margaret Thatcher, Harold Macmillan, Winston Churchill, Lloyd George, Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone (going back in time) thought of themselves as mere firsts among equals.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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        "A person or position that is formally of equal rank to others in a group, but nonetheless takes a leading role within that group."
      ],
      "id": "en-first_among_equals-en-noun-sX22NElQ",
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        "(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": [
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "primus inter pares"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "først blandt ligemænd"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "ensimmäinen vertaistensa joukossa"
        },
        {
          "code": "ka",
          "lang": "Georgian",
          "roman": "ṗirveli tanasc̣orta šoris",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "პირველი თანასწორთა შორის"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "első az egyenlők között"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "bheith i do shaoi i measc na sua"
        },
        {
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "prīmus inter parēs"
        },
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          "code": "pl",
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          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "pierwszy wśród równych"
        },
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          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "pérvyj srédi rávnyx",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "word": "пе́рвый сре́ди ра́вных"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "leading a group of equals",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "primero entre iguales"
        }
      ]
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      "audio": "en-au-first among equals.ogg",
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/En-au-first_among_equals.ogg",
      "tags": [
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "first among equals"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "Calque of Latin primus inter pares.",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "firsts among equals",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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        "English idioms",
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        "English terms derived from Latin",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Orthodox consider the bishop of Rome to have always been merely a first among equals.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, H. Y. Sharada Prasad, The Book I Won't be Writing and Other Essays, page 40",
          "text": "I wonder whether Margaret Thatcher, Harold Macmillan, Winston Churchill, Lloyd George, Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone (going back in time) thought of themselves as mere firsts among equals.",
          "type": "quotation"
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        "A person or position that is formally of equal rank to others in a group, but nonetheless takes a leading role within that group."
      ],
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        "(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."
      ],
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    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "primus inter pares"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "først blandt ligemænd"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "ensimmäinen vertaistensa joukossa"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "roman": "ṗirveli tanasc̣orta šoris",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "პირველი თანასწორთა შორის"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "első az egyenlők között"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "bheith i do shaoi i measc na sua"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "prīmus inter parēs"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "pierwszy wśród równych"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "pérvyj srédi rávnyx",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "word": "пе́рвый сре́ди ра́вных"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "leading a group of equals",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "primero entre iguales"
    }
  ],
  "word": "first among equals"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). 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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