foremost

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foremost^¹

/ˈfɔː.məʊst/ UK

Rhymes with -əʊst

Where it comes from

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.

adjective

not comparable Positioned in front of (all) others in space, most forward. She prankes not by hir mistresse side, she preases not to bée / The foremost of the companie, as when she erst was frée.
Similar: front, frontmost, forwardmost · Opposite: back, backmost, hindmost, rear, rearmost, rearwardmost
not comparable Coming before (all) others in time. […] of both them, she / (By Pallas counsell) was to haue the grace / Of foremost greeting.
Similar: first
not comparable Of the highest rank or position; of the greatest importance; of the highest priority. The exhibition features works by the country’s foremost artists.
Similar: greatest, leading, paramount, primary, principal, top
not comparable Closest to the bow. I let fall the tiller, turned my back on them, and sat down on the foremost thwart.
Opposite: aftermost

adverb

not comparable In front, prominently forward. 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.
not comparable First in time. 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
not comparable Most importantly. […] Mrs. Nickleby, with the utmost sincerity, gave vent to her sorrows after her own peculiar fashion of considering herself foremost,
Similar: especially, particularly

Foremost^²

proper noun

A village in Alberta, Canada.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: frontmost, front, top, best, first off, firstly, first, fore, forefront, outset, around, initially, overriding, location, prominent, utmost

Translations

Every language

adj closest to the bow

Русский	носовой nosovoj

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MLA

"foremost." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/foremost. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

foremost. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/foremost

Chicago

"foremost." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/foremost.

BibTeX

@misc{foremost_2026,
  title = {foremost},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/foremost},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}