eminent
adjective
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On Imminent and Eminent
Imminent bears a close resemblance to eminent, and native English-speakers can be excused if they sometimes have to check their spelling. No surprise, really, since the two, despite their very distinct meanings, come from near-identical sources. The Latin minēre means basically “to project, overhang,” and it forms the root of other Latin words. One added the prefix e-, meaning “out from,” to produce eminēre, “to stand out”; another took the prefix im-, meaning “upon,” and became imminēre, “to project.” The difference between “stand out” and “project” is obviously small. Still, even when eminent and imminent first appeared as English words in the 15th and 16th centuries respectively, they were clearly distinct in meaning, imminent’s prefix having strengthened the “overhang” sense of minēre to give the word its frequent suggestion of looming threat.
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Examples of eminent in a Sentence
Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 20 May 1994
Next year sees the 150th anniversary of the 'invention' of the dinosaurs by the eminent English anatomist and palaeontologist, Richard Owen.
—Nicholas Fraser, Nature, 20 & 27 Dec. 1990
many eminent surgeons are on the hospital's staff
Daniel Arkin, NBC News, 4 Nov. 2024
Have a portrait of Josef Gingold: Gingold was an eminent violinist and teacher of that instrument.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 30 Oct. 2024
Mencken was not just a talented memoirist and scholar of American English but also one of the eminent political writers of his time.
—Ben Jacobs, The Atlantic, 1 Nov. 2024
Did those warnings from authoritative sources — eminent figures Trump once appointed to high-ranking jobs — have any effect on his voters as election day approaches?
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World & Nation
Column: The presidential race won’t be over on election night.
—Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Eminent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eminent. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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eminent
adjective
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