foremost
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɔː.məʊst/
rhymes: -əʊst
Etymology: From Old English formest, fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”), from Proto-Germanic *frumistaz, from the locative stem *fur-, *fr- + the superlative suffix *-umistaz, stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr-. The suffix *-umistaz was a compound suffix, created from the rarer comparative suffix *-umô (as in Old English fruma) + the regular superlative suffix *-istaz (English -est); *-umô in turn is from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-.
Cognate with Old Frisian formest, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists). See for, first and Old English fruma for more. Partially cognate to primus, from Proto-Indo-European *pr- + Latin superlative suffix -imus, from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-.
A comparative former was back-formed analogically, leaving the m from *-umô in place. Later the Old English suffix complex -(u)m-est was conflated with the word most through folk etymology, so that the word is now interpreted as fore + -most.
Senses: examples: text: No Man hath more nicely observed our Climate, than the Bookseller who bought the Copy of this Work; He knows to a Tittle what Subjects will best go off in a dry Year, and which it is proper to expose foremost, when the Weather-glass is fallen to much Rain.
ref: 1704, Jonathan Swift, “The Conclusion”, in A Tale of a Tub, London: John Nutt, pages 215-216:
text: 1820, John Keats, “Lamia,” Part 1, in Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: Taylor and Hessey, p. 15,
She saw the young Corinthian Lycius / Charioting foremost in the envious race,
text: The little engine stood, tender foremost, at the platform, with its two coaches; [...].
ref: 1944 January and February, E. R. McCarter, “The Cairn Valley Light Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 47:
text: […] what haunts the heart will, when it is found, leap foremost, blinding the eye and leaving the main of Life in darkness.
ref: 1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan, Penguin, published 1981, page 137:
glosses: In front, prominently forward.
examples: text: c. 1618, Philip Massinger, Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Old Law, London: Edward Archer, 1656, Act III, Scene 1, p. 41,
Alwayes the worst goes foremost, so twill prove I hope
text: Our thirst, at length, and hunger both sufficed, / I, foremost speaking, ask’d you to the wars
ref: 1791, William Cowper, transl., The Iliad of Homer, London: J. Johnson, Book 11, lines 946-947, p. 299:
glosses: First in time.
examples: text: […] Mrs. Nickleby, with the utmost sincerity, gave vent to her sorrows after her own peculiar fashion of considering herself foremost,
ref: 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 51, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 597:
text: It seemed as if he had been gently awakened from a long sleep. The corners of his mouth hung down, drugged and paralyzed, and through the gray light of this soft, new-born consciousness it occurred to him first, prime and foremost (order, order, he found himself pleading) that he was not properly articulating.
ref: 1951, William Styron, chapter 5, in Lie Down in Darkness, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, page 214:
synonyms: especially
particularly
glosses: Most importantly.
Derived terms: first and foremost
put one's best foot foremost