Foremost

How to spell foremost

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce foremost

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does foremost mean?

1. adjectiveMost prominent in rank, position, or importance; leading.
2. adverbIn the first or most prominent place; before anything else.

Foremost in a sentence

• adjective

  She is the foremost authority on tax law in the region.

• adverb

  First and foremost, the budget needs to balance.

• adjective

  The company's foremost concern was protecting customer data.

• adverb

  The manual lists safety foremost, ahead of every other instruction.

Where does foremost come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Foremost is a native English word that descends from Old English formest or fyrmest, meaning 'first' or 'earliest', which was itself a superlative formed from fruma, an old word for 'beginning' or 'first thing'. Over the centuries speakers no longer recognised that ancient ending, so the word was reshaped to look as though it were simply 'fore' (in front) plus '-most' (the superlative ending also seen in 'utmost' and 'innermost'). This reinterpretation is the source of the spelling we use today, and it is why the word ends in '-most' rather than the original '-mest'. The 'fore' part is the same element found in 'forehead', 'foresee', and 'before', all carrying the sense of being ahead in place or time. The clue for spelling it correctly is to remember the two clean halves: 'fore' meaning at the front, and 'most' meaning to the greatest degree.

How the word is built

• fore- (before, in front)
• -most (superlative suffix)