Prominence

How to spell prominence

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce prominence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does prominence mean?

1. nounThe state of being important, well known, or standing out conspicuously.

Prominence in a sentence

• The scandal pushed the company into unwelcome prominence in the press.

• Years of careful research brought her to national prominence in her field.

Where does prominence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin prominentia, meaning 'a jutting out' or 'a projection', which was formed from the verb prominere, 'to stand out' or 'to project forward'. That verb combines pro-, meaning 'forward', with minere, meaning 'to jut or project', the same root that gives us 'eminent' and 'imminent'. English took the word in during the sixteenth century, at first for things that physically stuck out, such as a ridge or a swelling, and the meaning soon broadened to cover the figurative sense of standing out in importance or fame. The spelling trap lives in the middle and the ending: the unstressed vowels in the 'min' and '-ence' sections both reduce to a faint schwa in speech, so the 'i' and the final '-ence' (not '-ance') are easy to mishear and misspell. Keeping the relatives 'prominent' and 'eminence' in mind helps anchor the correct letters.

How the word is built

• pro- (forth, forward)
• min (to jut out, from Latin minere)
• -ence (noun suffix)