Etymologically
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eminent

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɛmɪnənt/[1]

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

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