foremost

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English formest, inherited from Old English formest, fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”),^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *frumistaz.^[3][6] The Old English word is a superlative of forma (“first”), which was itself a superlative, formed with the -m- suffix of Latin prīmus, from the base of fore;^[7][8][9] adding the superlative -est made a double superlative.^[7][10][3] It is cognate with Old Frisian formest and Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists);^[2][6][7] forma with Old Saxon formo, forma and 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌰 (fruma, “first”).^[4][11][5] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *pre-mo-, a suffixed form of *per- (“forward, through, in front of”).^[3][12] From the 16th century the word was written foremost by association with fore and -most, as if it were their compound.^[7][2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

First in a series, and also most notable, chief: both Old English;^[2][13] Barnhart cites fyrmest in Beowulf, which he dates to about 725.^[11] Bosworth–Toller gives the West Saxon Gospels' "se ðe wyle betweox eów beon fyrmest", for Latin primus.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle English the word was a plain synonym of first: first in order (until the 16th century) and first in time (until the late 16th century).^[2][13] In Laȝamon's Brut (c. 1275) it meant most forward in position, at the front.^[2] Barnhart dates the alteration to formoste to before 1525,^[11] and Hoad the spelling foremost to the 16th century;^[7] Weekley adds that former was formed back from formest.^[8] Johnson (1755) defined it as "first in place".^[14] Adverbial phrases such as head foremost are recorded from 1697,^[2] and put one's best foot foremost and first and foremost became set phrases.^[4][2]

Timeline

• Old English – first in order; chief, most notable.^[2]
• c. 1200 – adverb, at first.^[2]
• c. 1275 – most forward in position.^[2]
• before 1525 – the spelling formoste.^[11]
• 16th century – the spelling foremost.^[7]
• 1697 – head foremost, with the head first.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Most important or highest in rank; leading or preeminent: She was the foremost scholar of her day.
2. First in position; at the very front.

Adverb

1. In the first place; most importantly, especially in first and foremost.
2. Forward or in front, as in head foremost.

Word family

• headforemost
• sternforemost

Related words

• former
• first
• prime
• fore

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
13. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.