paramount

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   More important than anything else; supreme.

   The safety of the passengers is paramount.

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Simplified etymology

Paramount, recorded from the mid-16th century with the meaning “highest,” ultimately goes back to Latin mons, meaning “mountain.” The same Latin word is also the source of mountain, mount, and amount.

PIE word *h₂éd From Anglo-Norman paramont /paramount (“paramount, pre-eminent; above”), from Old French par /per (“by”) + amont /amunt (“upward”). Par is derived from Latin per (“by means of, through”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through; to carry forth, fare”); amont and amunt are from Latin ad montem (“to the mountain; upward”), from ad (“up to”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“at; to”)) + montem (the accusative singular of mōns (“mount, mountain”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stand out, tower”)).

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