eminent

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ēminēns (“standing out, projecting, high; distinguished”), the present participle of ēmineō (“to stand out, project; be prominent”).^[2][3][4][5] Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster allow that it came either directly from Latin or through Old French éminent (“prominent”), recorded in French from the 13th century,^[4][6][7] and the Anglo-Norman adjective eminent (“high, elevated”) is recorded from 1214.^[8] The Latin verb is formed from ex- (“out”) and a verbal element meaning "to jut out", which also appears in imminent and prominent,^[9][3][10] and which most dictionaries relate to mōns (“mountain, hill”), the source of mount and mountain.^{[9][6][7][11]} Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace it to Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to project”).^[4][3][10] Weekley connects it with minor (“to threaten”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of qualities, remarkable in degree, conspicuous: about 1420, in the Middle English translation of Palladius on husbandry.^[2] Etymonline gives the early 15th-century senses as rising above other places and exceeding other things in quality or degree,^[4] and Barnhart dates the word to about 1425.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Hoad sets out the order of the senses: "conspicuous, signal" in the 15th century, "lofty, prominent" in the 16th and "exalted, distinguished" in the 17th.^[11] The physical senses came later than the first figurative one: "projecting, prominent" from about 1541, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac, and "high, towering above its surroundings" from 1588;^[2] both are now archaic or poetic.^[2][5] Of people, the word meant first "exalted in rank" (Shakespeare, Measure for Measure) and then "distinguished in character or achievement", from the King James Bible of 1611,^[2] the 1610s according to Etymonline;^[4] this is now the main sense.^[13][7] Johnson (1755) still listed "high, lofty" first, then "dignified, exalted" and "conspicuous".^[14] From 1612 to 1749 the word could also mean "chief, principal" of things or places.^[2] The legal phrase right of eminent domain is recorded from 1738.^[2] Weekley notes that the related title Eminence was given to cardinals in 1630 by Pope Urban VIII.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1420 – remarkable in degree, conspicuous, of qualities.^[2]
• ?1541 – projecting, prominent.^[2]
• 1587 – used in error for imminent (obsolete).^[2]
• 1588 – high, towering above its surroundings.^[2]
• 1611 – distinguished in character or attainments, of people.^[2][4]
• 1612 – chief, principal (obsolete by 1749).^[2]
• a1616 – exalted in rank, in Shakespeare.^[2]
• 1738 – right of eminent domain, in law.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Famous and respected, standing above others in a field or profession; distinguished: an eminent heart surgeon.^[13][7][2]
2. Notable, conspicuous or outstanding in degree: She handled the crisis with eminent good judgment.^[13][7][2]
3. (archaic) High or towering; projecting or prominent.^{[13][7][2][5]}

Word family

• eminently
• supereminent
• uneminent
• eminence
• preeminent
• eminent domain

Related words

• imminent
• prominent
• mount
• mountain

Usage notes

The OED records eminent used in error for imminent from 1587, as medieval Latin often wrote eminens for imminens; it marks this use as obsolete.^[2] Wiktionary notes that the two words are still easily confused.^[15]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House