Paramount

Paramount

Adjective / Noun · /ˈpær.ə.maʊnt/

Definition

(Adjective) more important than anything else; supreme; of the highest authority or relevance — safety is paramount, of paramount importance. (Noun) (historical) a supreme ruler or overlord; the paramount chief.

Origin

From Anglo-French paramount — from Old French par (through, by) + amont (above, upward — from a, to + mont, mountain). Paramount therefore meaning by or through the mountain top — by the highest point — signifying that which stands above all others, the supreme authority. Appearing in English from the mid-thirteenth century initially as a noun designating the supreme feudal lord — the paramount — and developing its adjectival sense of supreme importance from the sixteenth century onwards.