Foremost Meaning

/ˈfɔː.məʊst/
B2

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjPositioned in front of (all) others in space, most forward.

adjComing before (all) others in time.

I told it to my mother first and foremost.
He is the foremost authority on heart surgery.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
She is considered the ____ expert in her field because of her groundbreaking research.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He is considered one of the ____ experts in the field of renewable energy and sustainability.

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-. Cognate 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-. A 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.

"She prankes not by hir mistresse side, she preases not to bée / The foremost of the companie, as when she erst was frée." — 1567, Ovid, “The Seconde Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC:
"As I plunged into the reeds, my foremost pursuers emerged from the gap." — 1896, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Chapter 12”, in The Island of Doctor Moreau (Heinemann’s Colonial Library of Popular Fiction; 52), London: William Heinemann, →OCLC; republished as The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Possibility, New York, N.Y.: Stone & Kimball, 1896, →OCLC:
"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." — 2015, John Irving, chapter 7, in Avenue of Mysteries, London: Doubleday, page 70:
"[…] of both them, she / (By Pallas counsell) was to haue the grace / Of foremost greeting." — c. 1615, George Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses, London: Nathaniel Butter, Book 7, p. 102:
"What, shall one of us / That struck the foremost man of all this world / But for supporting robbers, shall we now / Contaminate our fingers with base bribes," — 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
She is considered the ____ expert in her field because of her groundbreaking research.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He is considered one of the ____ experts in the field of renewable energy and sustainability.

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