See foremost in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for foremost meaning in English (15.6kB)
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"word": "foremostly"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"word": "headforemost"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"word": "sternforemost"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "formest"
},
"expansion": "Old English formest",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fyrmest",
"3": "",
"4": "earliest, first, most prominent"
},
"expansion": "fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*frumistaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *frumistaz",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*fur-"
},
"expansion": "*fur-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*fr-"
},
"expansion": "*fr-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umistaz"
},
"expansion": "*-umistaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*pr-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pr-",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umistaz"
},
"expansion": "*-umistaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fruma"
},
"expansion": "fruma",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-istaz"
},
"expansion": "*-istaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "-est"
},
"expansion": "-est",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*-mHo-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "formest"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian formest",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "got",
"2": "𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃"
},
"expansion": "Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists)",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "for"
},
"expansion": "for",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "first"
},
"expansion": "first",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fruma"
},
"expansion": "fruma",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "primus"
},
"expansion": "primus",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ine-pro",
"2": "*pr-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pr-",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "-imus"
},
"expansion": "-imus",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ine-pro",
"2": "*-mHo-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "former"
},
"expansion": "former",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "",
"3": "-(u)m-est"
},
"expansion": "-(u)m-est",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "most"
},
"expansion": "most",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fore",
"3": "most"
},
"expansion": "fore + -most",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "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-.\nCognate 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-.\nA 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.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "foremost (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "back"
},
{
"word": "backmost"
},
{
"word": "hindmost"
},
{
"word": "rear"
},
{
"word": "rearmost"
}
],
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2015, John Irving, chapter 7, in Avenue of Mysteries, London: Doubleday, page 70",
"text": "Juan Diego hadn’t noticed the other people in the temple, except for what appeared to be two mourners; they knelt in the foremost pew.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Positioned in front of (all) others in space, most forward."
],
"id": "en-foremost-en-adj-sUPzDsOv",
"links": [
[
"in front of",
"in front of"
],
[
"forward",
"forward"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "front"
},
{
"word": "frontmost"
}
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "7 38 9 26 7 12 0",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 39 10 25 8 7 0",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms suffixed with -most",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "c. 1615, George Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses, London: Nathaniel Butter, Book 7, p. 102",
"text": "[…] of both them, she / (By Pallas counsell) was to haue the grace / Of foremost greeting.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"text": "1769, Oliver Goldsmith, The Roman History, London: S. Baker and G. Leigh et al., Volume 1, Chapter 16, p. 254,\nHe was the best horseman, and the swiftest runner of his time. He was ever the foremost to engage, and the last to retreat;"
},
{
"text": "a. 1891, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, in The Shorter Novels of Herman Melville, New York: Fawcett Premier, 1956, Chapter 17, p. 244,\na bright young schoolmate of his whom he had seen struck by much the same startling impotence in the act of eagerly rising in the class to be foremost in response to a testing question put to it by the master"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Coming before (all) others in time."
],
"id": "en-foremost-en-adj-yyiQI6QQ",
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "first"
}
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "The exhibition features works by the country’s foremost artists.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "Foremost among the workers’ grievances was the company’s failure to address the many safety issues in the plant.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "1759, George Colman, The Rolliad, Canto 1, in Prose on Several Occasions: Accompanied with Some Pieces in Verse, London: T. Cadel, 1787, Volume 2, p. 292,\nAnd have I then so oft, enrag’d she cried, / My longing soul its foremost wish denied?"
},
{
"text": "1846, Frederick Douglass, Reception Speech at Finsbury Chapel, Moorfields, England, May 12, 1846, in My Bondage and My Freedom, New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1855, Appendix, pp. 410-411,\nOf all things that have been said of slavery to which exception has been taken by slaveholders, this, the charge of cruelty, stands foremost, and yet there is no charge capable of clearer demonstration, than that of the most barbarous inhumanity on the part of the slaveholders toward their slaves."
},
{
"text": "1993, Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy, New Delhi: Penguin India, 1994, Section 9.13, p. 580,\nShe was thinking of other matters. What was foremost on her mind was Haresh’s panama hat, which (though he had doffed it) she thought exceptionally stupid."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Of the highest rank or position; of the greatest importance; of the highest priority."
],
"id": "en-foremost-en-adj-FlITEaJk",
"links": [
[
"high",
"high"
],
[
"rank",
"rank"
],
[
"position",
"position"
],
[
"importance",
"importance"
],
[
"priority",
"priority"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "greatest"
},
{
"word": "leading"
},
{
"word": "paramount"
},
{
"word": "primary"
},
{
"word": "principal"
},
{
"word": "top"
}
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "aftermost"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Nautical",
"orig": "en:Nautical",
"parents": [
"Transport",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1900, Joseph Conrad, chapter 10, in Lord Jim, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, page 133",
"text": "I let fall the tiller, turned my back on them, and sat down on the foremost thwart.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Closest to the bow."
],
"id": "en-foremost-en-adj-nBpiSWbo",
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
],
[
"bow",
"bow"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical) Closest to the bow."
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "2 13 4 81",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "čelen",
"sense": "closest to the bow",
"word": "челен"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 13 4 81",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "closest to the bow",
"word": "keulimmainen"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 13 4 81",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "closest to the bow",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "dziobowy"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 13 4 81",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "nosovoj",
"sense": "closest to the bow",
"word": "носовой"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈfɔː.məʊst/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-əʊst"
},
{
"audio": "en-us-foremost.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/99/En-us-foremost.ogg/En-us-foremost.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/En-us-foremost.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"word": "foremost"
}
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "first and foremost"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "put one's best foot foremost"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "formest"
},
"expansion": "Old English formest",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fyrmest",
"3": "",
"4": "earliest, first, most prominent"
},
"expansion": "fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*frumistaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *frumistaz",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*fur-"
},
"expansion": "*fur-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*fr-"
},
"expansion": "*fr-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umistaz"
},
"expansion": "*-umistaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*pr-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pr-",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umistaz"
},
"expansion": "*-umistaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fruma"
},
"expansion": "fruma",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-istaz"
},
"expansion": "*-istaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "-est"
},
"expansion": "-est",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*-mHo-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "formest"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian formest",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "got",
"2": "𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃"
},
"expansion": "Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists)",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "for"
},
"expansion": "for",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "first"
},
"expansion": "first",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fruma"
},
"expansion": "fruma",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "primus"
},
"expansion": "primus",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ine-pro",
"2": "*pr-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pr-",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "-imus"
},
"expansion": "-imus",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ine-pro",
"2": "*-mHo-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "former"
},
"expansion": "former",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "",
"3": "-(u)m-est"
},
"expansion": "-(u)m-est",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "most"
},
"expansion": "most",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fore",
"3": "most"
},
"expansion": "fore + -most",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "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-.\nCognate 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-.\nA 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.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "foremost (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1704, Jonathan Swift, “The Conclusion”, in A Tale of a Tub, London: John Nutt, pages 215-216",
"text": "No Man hath more nicely observed our Climate, than the Bookseller who bought the Copy of this Work; He knows to a Tittle what Subjects will best go off in a dry Year, and which it is proper to expose foremost, when the Weather-glass is fallen to much Rain.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"text": "1820, John Keats, “Lamia,” Part 1, in Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: Taylor and Hessey, p. 15,\nShe saw the young Corinthian Lycius / Charioting foremost in the envious race,"
},
{
"ref": "1944 January and February, E. R. McCarter, “The Cairn Valley Light Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 47",
"text": "The little engine stood, tender foremost, at the platform, with its two coaches; [...].",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan, Penguin, published 1981, page 137",
"text": "[…] what haunts the heart will, when it is found, leap foremost, blinding the eye and leaving the main of Life in darkness.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"In front, prominently forward."
],
"id": "en-foremost-en-adv-oTnHMdI0",
"links": [
[
"front",
"front"
],
[
"prominently",
"prominently"
],
[
"forward",
"forward"
]
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "c. 1618, Philip Massinger, Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Old Law, London: Edward Archer, 1656, Act III, Scene 1, p. 41,\nAlwayes the worst goes foremost, so twill prove I hope"
},
{
"ref": "1791, William Cowper, transl., The Iliad of Homer, London: J. Johnson, Book 11, lines 946-947, p. 299",
"text": "Our thirst, at length, and hunger both sufficed, / I, foremost speaking, ask’d you to the wars",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"First in time."
],
"id": "en-foremost-en-adv-I05evMx1",
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1951, William Styron, chapter 5, in Lie Down in Darkness, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, page 214",
"text": "It seemed as if he had been gently awakened from a long sleep. The corners of his mouth hung down, drugged and paralyzed, and through the gray light of this soft, new-born consciousness it occurred to him first, prime and foremost (order, order, he found himself pleading) that he was not properly articulating.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Most importantly."
],
"id": "en-foremost-en-adv-RBUBj6Vw",
"links": [
[
"importantly",
"importantly"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "especially"
},
{
"word": "particularly"
}
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈfɔː.məʊst/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-əʊst"
},
{
"audio": "en-us-foremost.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/99/En-us-foremost.ogg/En-us-foremost.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/En-us-foremost.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"word": "foremost"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 2-syllable words",
"English adjectives",
"English adverbs",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English terms derived from Old English",
"English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
"English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
"English terms inherited from Old English",
"English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
"English terms suffixed with -most",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English uncomparable adjectives",
"English uncomparable adverbs",
"Rhymes:English/əʊst",
"Rhymes:English/əʊst/2 syllables"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "foremostly"
},
{
"word": "headforemost"
},
{
"word": "sternforemost"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "formest"
},
"expansion": "Old English formest",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fyrmest",
"3": "",
"4": "earliest, first, most prominent"
},
"expansion": "fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*frumistaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *frumistaz",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*fur-"
},
"expansion": "*fur-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*fr-"
},
"expansion": "*fr-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umistaz"
},
"expansion": "*-umistaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*pr-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pr-",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umistaz"
},
"expansion": "*-umistaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fruma"
},
"expansion": "fruma",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-istaz"
},
"expansion": "*-istaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "-est"
},
"expansion": "-est",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*-mHo-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "formest"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian formest",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "got",
"2": "𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃"
},
"expansion": "Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists)",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "for"
},
"expansion": "for",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "first"
},
"expansion": "first",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fruma"
},
"expansion": "fruma",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "primus"
},
"expansion": "primus",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ine-pro",
"2": "*pr-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pr-",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "-imus"
},
"expansion": "-imus",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ine-pro",
"2": "*-mHo-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "former"
},
"expansion": "former",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "",
"3": "-(u)m-est"
},
"expansion": "-(u)m-est",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "most"
},
"expansion": "most",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fore",
"3": "most"
},
"expansion": "fore + -most",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "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-.\nCognate 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-.\nA 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.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "foremost (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "back"
},
{
"word": "backmost"
},
{
"word": "hindmost"
},
{
"word": "rear"
},
{
"word": "rearmost"
}
],
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2015, John Irving, chapter 7, in Avenue of Mysteries, London: Doubleday, page 70",
"text": "Juan Diego hadn’t noticed the other people in the temple, except for what appeared to be two mourners; they knelt in the foremost pew.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Positioned in front of (all) others in space, most forward."
],
"links": [
[
"in front of",
"in front of"
],
[
"forward",
"forward"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "front"
},
{
"word": "frontmost"
}
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "c. 1615, George Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses, London: Nathaniel Butter, Book 7, p. 102",
"text": "[…] of both them, she / (By Pallas counsell) was to haue the grace / Of foremost greeting.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"text": "1769, Oliver Goldsmith, The Roman History, London: S. Baker and G. Leigh et al., Volume 1, Chapter 16, p. 254,\nHe was the best horseman, and the swiftest runner of his time. He was ever the foremost to engage, and the last to retreat;"
},
{
"text": "a. 1891, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, in The Shorter Novels of Herman Melville, New York: Fawcett Premier, 1956, Chapter 17, p. 244,\na bright young schoolmate of his whom he had seen struck by much the same startling impotence in the act of eagerly rising in the class to be foremost in response to a testing question put to it by the master"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Coming before (all) others in time."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "first"
}
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "The exhibition features works by the country’s foremost artists.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "Foremost among the workers’ grievances was the company’s failure to address the many safety issues in the plant.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "1759, George Colman, The Rolliad, Canto 1, in Prose on Several Occasions: Accompanied with Some Pieces in Verse, London: T. Cadel, 1787, Volume 2, p. 292,\nAnd have I then so oft, enrag’d she cried, / My longing soul its foremost wish denied?"
},
{
"text": "1846, Frederick Douglass, Reception Speech at Finsbury Chapel, Moorfields, England, May 12, 1846, in My Bondage and My Freedom, New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1855, Appendix, pp. 410-411,\nOf all things that have been said of slavery to which exception has been taken by slaveholders, this, the charge of cruelty, stands foremost, and yet there is no charge capable of clearer demonstration, than that of the most barbarous inhumanity on the part of the slaveholders toward their slaves."
},
{
"text": "1993, Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy, New Delhi: Penguin India, 1994, Section 9.13, p. 580,\nShe was thinking of other matters. What was foremost on her mind was Haresh’s panama hat, which (though he had doffed it) she thought exceptionally stupid."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Of the highest rank or position; of the greatest importance; of the highest priority."
],
"links": [
[
"high",
"high"
],
[
"rank",
"rank"
],
[
"position",
"position"
],
[
"importance",
"importance"
],
[
"priority",
"priority"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "greatest"
},
{
"word": "leading"
},
{
"word": "paramount"
},
{
"word": "primary"
},
{
"word": "principal"
},
{
"word": "top"
}
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "aftermost"
}
],
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"en:Nautical"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1900, Joseph Conrad, chapter 10, in Lord Jim, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, page 133",
"text": "I let fall the tiller, turned my back on them, and sat down on the foremost thwart.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Closest to the bow."
],
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
],
[
"bow",
"bow"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical) Closest to the bow."
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈfɔː.məʊst/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-əʊst"
},
{
"audio": "en-us-foremost.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/99/En-us-foremost.ogg/En-us-foremost.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/En-us-foremost.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "čelen",
"sense": "closest to the bow",
"word": "челен"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "closest to the bow",
"word": "keulimmainen"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "closest to the bow",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "dziobowy"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "nosovoj",
"sense": "closest to the bow",
"word": "носовой"
}
],
"word": "foremost"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 2-syllable words",
"English adjectives",
"English adverbs",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English terms derived from Old English",
"English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
"English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
"English terms inherited from Old English",
"English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
"English terms suffixed with -most",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English uncomparable adjectives",
"English uncomparable adverbs",
"Rhymes:English/əʊst",
"Rhymes:English/əʊst/2 syllables"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "first and foremost"
},
{
"word": "put one's best foot foremost"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "formest"
},
"expansion": "Old English formest",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fyrmest",
"3": "",
"4": "earliest, first, most prominent"
},
"expansion": "fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*frumistaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *frumistaz",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*fur-"
},
"expansion": "*fur-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*fr-"
},
"expansion": "*fr-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umistaz"
},
"expansion": "*-umistaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*pr-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pr-",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umistaz"
},
"expansion": "*-umistaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fruma"
},
"expansion": "fruma",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-istaz"
},
"expansion": "*-istaz",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "-est"
},
"expansion": "-est",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*-mHo-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "formest"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian formest",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "got",
"2": "𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃"
},
"expansion": "Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists)",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "for"
},
"expansion": "for",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "first"
},
"expansion": "first",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "fruma"
},
"expansion": "fruma",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "primus"
},
"expansion": "primus",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ine-pro",
"2": "*pr-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pr-",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "-imus"
},
"expansion": "-imus",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ine-pro",
"2": "*-mHo-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "former"
},
"expansion": "former",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*-umô"
},
"expansion": "*-umô",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "",
"3": "-(u)m-est"
},
"expansion": "-(u)m-est",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "most"
},
"expansion": "most",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fore",
"3": "most"
},
"expansion": "fore + -most",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "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-.\nCognate 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-.\nA 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.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "foremost (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1704, Jonathan Swift, “The Conclusion”, in A Tale of a Tub, London: John Nutt, pages 215-216",
"text": "No Man hath more nicely observed our Climate, than the Bookseller who bought the Copy of this Work; He knows to a Tittle what Subjects will best go off in a dry Year, and which it is proper to expose foremost, when the Weather-glass is fallen to much Rain.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"text": "1820, John Keats, “Lamia,” Part 1, in Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: Taylor and Hessey, p. 15,\nShe saw the young Corinthian Lycius / Charioting foremost in the envious race,"
},
{
"ref": "1944 January and February, E. R. McCarter, “The Cairn Valley Light Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 47",
"text": "The little engine stood, tender foremost, at the platform, with its two coaches; [...].",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan, Penguin, published 1981, page 137",
"text": "[…] what haunts the heart will, when it is found, leap foremost, blinding the eye and leaving the main of Life in darkness.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"In front, prominently forward."
],
"links": [
[
"front",
"front"
],
[
"prominently",
"prominently"
],
[
"forward",
"forward"
]
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "c. 1618, Philip Massinger, Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Old Law, London: Edward Archer, 1656, Act III, Scene 1, p. 41,\nAlwayes the worst goes foremost, so twill prove I hope"
},
{
"ref": "1791, William Cowper, transl., The Iliad of Homer, London: J. Johnson, Book 11, lines 946-947, p. 299",
"text": "Our thirst, at length, and hunger both sufficed, / I, foremost speaking, ask’d you to the wars",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"First in time."
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1951, William Styron, chapter 5, in Lie Down in Darkness, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, page 214",
"text": "It seemed as if he had been gently awakened from a long sleep. The corners of his mouth hung down, drugged and paralyzed, and through the gray light of this soft, new-born consciousness it occurred to him first, prime and foremost (order, order, he found himself pleading) that he was not properly articulating.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Most importantly."
],
"links": [
[
"importantly",
"importantly"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "especially"
},
{
"word": "particularly"
}
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈfɔː.məʊst/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-əʊst"
},
{
"audio": "en-us-foremost.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/99/En-us-foremost.ogg/En-us-foremost.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/En-us-foremost.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"word": "foremost"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). 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.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.