Paramount

How to spell paramount

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce paramount

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does paramount mean?

1. adjectiveMore important than anything else; supreme in rank or significance.

Paramount in a sentence

• The safety of the passengers is paramount during any flight.

• Keeping accurate records is of paramount importance to the auditors.

Where does paramount come from?

Language of origin: French

Paramount entered English in the 1500s from Anglo-Norman French, where the phrase 'paramont' meant 'above' or 'at the top'. It was built from 'par', meaning 'by' (from Latin per), and 'amont', meaning 'upward' or 'uphill', which itself traces back to the Latin 'ad montem', literally 'to the mountain', from 'mons', meaning 'mountain'. The original sense was strikingly literal and feudal: a 'lord paramount' was the supreme overlord, the one standing highest of all in the chain of land tenure. From that idea of being positioned above everyone else, the word broadened into the modern abstract sense of 'chief in importance' or 'supreme'. The hidden 'mountain' inside the spelling is a useful memory hook, since paramount really does mean standing at the very top, and the famous film studio took its name from exactly this sense of being supreme.

How the word is built

• par- (by, from Latin per)
• a- (to)
• mount (up, hill, from Latin mons 'mountain')