pre-eminence
(priːˈɛmɪnəns)
Also 5–6 prem-, 5–8 prehem-, 7–8 præem-.
[ad. late L. præēminēntia (5th c.), f. L. præēminēnt-em pre-eminent: see -ence. Cf. F. prééminence (14th c. in Littré). The h in obs. spelling was inserted to avoid hiatus.]
Surpassing or superior eminence.
1. Higher rank or distinction; priority of place, precedence; superiority.
| 1427 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 326/2 As toward any preeminence yat ye might have..as chief of Counseill. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 48 How Maria, whiche hadde a premynence Above alle women, in Bedlem whan she lay. 1526 Tindale 3 John 9 Diotrephes which loueth to haue the preeminence amonge them receaueth vs not. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 68 As touching preheminence and dignity, he is chiefe of the Christian Princes. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. i. (1739) 1 They allowed pre⁓eminence to their Magistrates rather than Supremacy. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. II. 10 Our Saviour is very fitly termed our Head, as that implies..Preheminence over the rest of the Body. 1872 Yeats Growth Comm. 97 The Venetians asserted their pre-eminence over the Genoese in a..battle. |
2. Superiority in any quality; the possession or existence of a quality or attribute in a pre-eminent degree.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 244 Whil they stonde in ther fresse premynence. 1486 Hen. VII at York in Surtees Misc. (1888) 54 A place to my pleasour of moost prehemynence. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 179 b, The preemynence of his moost gracyous incarnacyon. 1612 Selden Illustr. Drayton's Poly-olb. x. 161 The East-Indian Taprobran, now called Sumatra, had preheminence of quantity before this of ours. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. III. 147 The emperor Honorius was distinguished..by the pre-eminence of fear, as well as of rank. 1883 Symonds Shaks. Predecess. ii. (1890) 46 Shakspere's pre⁓eminence consists chiefly in this, that he did supremely well what all were doing. |
† b. In lit. sense of the L.: Greater stature. Obs.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xv. (Arb.) 49 The actors..for a speciall preheminence did walke vpon those high corked shoes or pantofles. |
3. With a and pl. An individual instance or case of pre-eminence: a. A distinction, a distinguishing privilege; b. A quality existing in a pre-eminent degree. Now rare.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 160 In onliche stude he beȝet þeos þreo biȝeaten [2 MSS. preeminences]—priuilege of prechur, merit of martirdom & meidenes mede. 1433 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 432/2 All the manere of preminences and duytees belangyng therto. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxii. §13 God, from whom mens seuerall degrees and preeminences doe proceed. 1641 Earl of Monmouth tr. Biondi's Civil Warres v. 93 The City of Auxerres, and the precincts thereof, with all the above said preheminences. 1794 Burke Rep. Lords' Jrnls. Wks. 1842 II. 632 The office, the powers and preheminences annexed to it, differ very widely. |
Hence † pre-ˈeminenced ppl. a. Obs. nonce-wd., raised to pre-eminence; distinguished.
| 1661 Feltham Resolves ii. xix. (ed. 8) 222 They are pre⁓eminenc'd before the rest of the world. |