eminent

See also: éminent

English

Etymology

From Middle French éminent, from Latin present participle ēminēns, ēminentis, from verb ēmineō (“I project, I protrude”), from ex- (“out of, from”) + mineō, related to mons (English mount). Compare with imminent. Unrelated to emanate, which is instead from mānō (“I flow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛmɪnənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

eminent (comparative more eminent, superlative most eminent)

1. Noteworthy, remarkable, great.

   Synonyms: remarkable, outstanding; see also Thesaurus:notable

   His eminent good sense has been a godsend to this project.

2. (of a person) Distinguished, important, noteworthy.

   Synonyms: distinguished, noteworthy; see also Thesaurus:notable

   In later years, the professor became known as an eminent historian.

   • 2018 February 28, Justine Jordan, “Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday review – a dizzying debut”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     “So. Miss Alice. Are you game?” The question is posed by an eminent novelist of about 70, who has sat on a Manhattan park bench and struck up conversation with a young woman reading a book.

3. (archaic) High, lofty.

   Synonyms: towering, prominent; see also Thesaurus:tall

Usage notes

Eminent and imminent are very similar sounds, and are weak rhymes; in some dialects, these may be confused. A typo of either word may result in a correction to the wrong word by spellchecking software. Eminent may also be confused with immanent, immanant, or emanate.

Derived terms

• eminence
• eminent domain
• eminently
• eminentness
• hypereminent
• preeminent
• supereminent
• uneminent

Related terms

• imminent
• prominent

Translations

remarkable, great

• Bulgarian: знаменит (bg) (znamenit)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 杰出的

• Czech: znamenitý
• Dutch: voortreffelijk (nl), eminent (nl)
• French: remarquable (fr)
• German: ausgesprochen (de)
• Greek: έξοχος (el) (éxochos), εξαίρετος (el) (exaíretos)

  Ancient: ὑπέροχος (hupérokhos)

  Ancient: ἔξοχος (éxokhos)

• Hindi: उत्कृष्ट (hi) (utkŕṣṭ)
• Japanese: 傑出した (ja) (kesshutsu shita)
• Latin: ēgregius
• Latvian: redzams, izcils
• Macedonian: познат (poznat)
• Norman: notabl'ye
• Polish: znaczący (pl), wspaniały (pl)
• Portuguese: eminente (pt)
• Russian: выдаю́щийся (ru) (vydajúščijsja), знамени́тый (ru) (znamenítyj)
• Spanish: prócer (es)
• Turkish: dikkate değer
• Ukrainian: видатний (uk) m (vydatnyj), знаменитий m (znamenytyj), визначний m (vyznačnyj)

of a person: distinguished, noteworthy

• Arabic: بَارِز (bāriz)
• Bulgarian: виден (bg) (viden), изтъкнат (bg) (iztǎknat)
• Catalan: eminent (ca)
• Czech: znamenitý
• Esperanto: eminenta (eo)
• French: éminent (fr)
• German: angesehen (de)
• Greek: επιφανής (el) (epifanís), διαπρεπής (el) (diaprepís), διακεκριμένος (el) (diakekriménos), εξέχων (el) (exéchon)

  Ancient: ἔξοχος (éxokhos), ὑπέροχος (hupérokhos)

• Hindi: उत्कृष्ट (hi) (utkŕṣṭ), श्रेष्ठ (hi) (śreṣṭh)
• Japanese: 著名な (ja) (chomei na), (as a prefix) 名 (ja) (mei)
• Latin: ēminens
• Latvian: redzams, izcils
• Macedonian: истакнат (istaknat)
• Manx: ard-ennymagh
• Maori: taiea, taumata rau, kōhure
• Old English: æþele
• Polish: znakomity (pl), znamienity, eminentny (pl)
• Portuguese: eminente (pt)
• Russian: ви́дный (ru) (vídnyj), имени́тый (ru) (imenítyj), выдаю́щийся (ru) (vydajúščijsja)
• Spanish: eminente (es), esclarecido (es), excelso (es), egregio (es), preclaro (es), prominente (es), prócer (es)
• Thai: มีชื่อเสียง, ที่มีชื่อ
• Turkish: seçkin (tr)
• Ukrainian: видатний (uk) m (vydatnyj), знаменитий m (znamenytyj)

Further reading

• “eminent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “eminent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “eminent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• T'ien-men, T'ien-mên, tinemen

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ēminentem.

Adjective

eminent m or f (masculine and feminine plural eminents)

1. eminent

Derived terms

• eminentment

Related terms

• eminència

Further reading

• “eminent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “eminent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “eminent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “eminent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ēminēns. Often said to be borrowed from Middle French éminent, but this is unlikely as the figurative meaning of the French word is attested later than that of the Dutch.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

eminent (comparative eminenter, superlative eminentst)

1. eminent, distinguished

   Synonyms: illuster, vooraanstaand, voornaam

Declension

Declension of eminent
uninflected	eminent
inflected	eminente
comparative	eminenter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		eminent	eminenter	het eminentst het eminentste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	eminente	eminentere	eminentste
	n. sing.	eminent	eminenter	eminentste
	plural	eminente	eminentere	eminentste
definite		eminente	eminentere	eminentste
partitive		eminents	eminenters	—

Derived terms

• eminentie

Descendants

• → Indonesian: eminen

German

Etymology

Borrowed from French éminent, from Latin eminens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [emiˈnɛnt]
• Hyphenation: emi‧nent

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

eminent (strong nominative masculine singular eminenter, comparative eminenter, superlative am eminentesten)

1. eminent

Declension

Positive forms of eminent

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist eminent	sie ist eminent	es ist eminent	sie sind eminent
strong declension (without article)	nominative	eminenter	eminente	eminentes	eminente
	genitive	eminenten	eminenter	eminenten	eminenter
	dative	eminentem	eminenter	eminentem	eminenten
	accusative	eminenten	eminente	eminentes	eminente
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der eminente	die eminente	das eminente	die eminenten
	genitive	des eminenten	der eminenten	des eminenten	der eminenten
	dative	dem eminenten	der eminenten	dem eminenten	den eminenten
	accusative	den eminenten	die eminente	das eminente	die eminenten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein eminenter	eine eminente	ein eminentes	(keine) eminenten
	genitive	eines eminenten	einer eminenten	eines eminenten	(keiner) eminenten
	dative	einem eminenten	einer eminenten	einem eminenten	(keinen) eminenten
	accusative	einen eminenten	eine eminente	ein eminentes	(keine) eminenten

Comparative forms of eminent

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist eminenter	sie ist eminenter	es ist eminenter	sie sind eminenter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	eminenterer	eminentere	eminenteres	eminentere
	genitive	eminenteren	eminenterer	eminenteren	eminenterer
	dative	eminenterem	eminenterer	eminenterem	eminenteren
	accusative	eminenteren	eminentere	eminenteres	eminentere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der eminentere	die eminentere	das eminentere	die eminenteren
	genitive	des eminenteren	der eminenteren	des eminenteren	der eminenteren
	dative	dem eminenteren	der eminenteren	dem eminenteren	den eminenteren
	accusative	den eminenteren	die eminentere	das eminentere	die eminenteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein eminenterer	eine eminentere	ein eminenteres	(keine) eminenteren
	genitive	eines eminenteren	einer eminenteren	eines eminenteren	(keiner) eminenteren
	dative	einem eminenteren	einer eminenteren	einem eminenteren	(keinen) eminenteren
	accusative	einen eminenteren	eine eminentere	ein eminenteres	(keine) eminenteren

Superlative forms of eminent

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am eminentesten	sie ist am eminentesten	es ist am eminentesten	sie sind am eminentesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	eminentester	eminenteste	eminentestes	eminenteste
	genitive	eminentesten	eminentester	eminentesten	eminentester
	dative	eminentestem	eminentester	eminentestem	eminentesten
	accusative	eminentesten	eminenteste	eminentestes	eminenteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der eminenteste	die eminenteste	das eminenteste	die eminentesten
	genitive	des eminentesten	der eminentesten	des eminentesten	der eminentesten
	dative	dem eminentesten	der eminentesten	dem eminentesten	den eminentesten
	accusative	den eminentesten	die eminenteste	das eminenteste	die eminentesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein eminentester	eine eminenteste	ein eminentestes	(keine) eminentesten
	genitive	eines eminentesten	einer eminentesten	eines eminentesten	(keiner) eminentesten
	dative	einem eminentesten	einer eminentesten	einem eminentesten	(keinen) eminentesten
	accusative	einen eminentesten	eine eminenteste	ein eminentestes	(keine) eminentesten

Related terms

• Eminenz

Further reading

• “eminent” in Duden online
• “eminent” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Latin

Verb

ēminent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of ēmineō

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

eminent (indefinite singular eminent, definite singular and plural eminente)

1. eminent

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

eminent (indefinite singular eminent, definite singular and plural eminente)

1. eminent

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French éminent, from Latin eminens.

Adjective

eminent m or n (feminine singular eminentă, masculine plural eminenți, feminine and neuter plural eminente)

1. notable

Declension

Declension of eminent

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	eminent		eminentă		eminenți	eminente
	definite	eminentul		eminenta		eminenții	eminentele
genitive- dative	indefinite	eminent		eminente		eminenți	eminente
	definite	eminentului		eminentei		eminenților	eminentelor