Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

above all en · ADP

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English [Term?]. Compare Dutch bovenal (“above all”).

Meanings

  1. Of prime importance; before anything else; especially.
    • Lastly, I must mention the "Underground," to travel on which was, in those days, an experience to be remembered. There were the antique looking engines, and the rather grim carriages, with the fascinating indicators in the compartments to show (not always correctly!) the next station, and above all, there was the atmosphere. 1957 July 14, M. D. Greville, “A Diamond Jubilee of Railway Memories”, in Railway Magazine, page 459:
    • [Editor David W. Blight said:] Deeply in need of father figures and spiritual hope, and “religiously seeking knowledge,” as he recalled it, the slave boy [the young Frederick Douglass] turned to a religious black man, a freeman named Charles Lawson, who worked as a drayman for a rope maker and lived on Happy Alley in Fells Point. Frederick spent countless hours with Lawson in the drayman’s shack reading the bible aloud, singing hymns, and praying together. “I could teach him the letter, but he could teach me the spirit,” Douglass remembered. Throughout his life Douglass would teach his teachers and learn from them at the same time. From old Lawson he gained […] above all […] a belief in a benevolent and protective God, the faith that his “life was under the guidance of a wisdom higher than my own.” 1997 [1797], David W. Blight, “Editor's Introduction: The Peculiar Dialogue Between Caleb Bingham and Frederick Douglass”, in Caleb Bingham, edited by David W. Blight, The Columbian Orator, Bicentennial Edition (1997 republishing), New York University Press, →ISBN:
    • You could just use ordinary shop-bought kecap manis to marinade the meat, but making your own is easy, has a far more elegant fragrance and is, above all, such a great brag! Flavouring kecap manis is an intensely personal thing, so try this version now and next time cook the sauce down with crushed, split lemongrass and a shredded lime leaf. 2015 October 27, Matt Preston, The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better, Plum, →ISBN, page 192:

Relateds

in the first place

Synonyms

first and foremost

Translations (61)

got 𐌸𐌹𐍃𐌷𐌿𐌽 (of prime importance) · io precipue (of prime importance) · af hoofsaaklik (of prime importance) · es ante todo (of prime importance) · cmn 首先 (of prime importance) · hu legfőképp (of prime importance) · da fremfor alt (of prime importance) · ka უპირველეს ყოვლისა (of prime importance) · uk перш за все (of prime importance) · de vor allem anderen (of prime importance) · hu legfőképpen (of prime importance) · af veral (of prime importance) · nl bovenal (of prime importance) · fi ylipäätänsä (of prime importance) · da først og fremst (of prime importance) · nb først og fremst (of prime importance) · pt acima de tudo (of prime importance) · mt fuq kollox (of prime importance) · sv framförallt (of prime importance) · sv främst (of prime importance) · grc μάλιστα (of prime importance) · es máxime (of prime importance) · fr avant tout (of prime importance) · es más que nada (of prime importance) · ko 무엇보다 먼저 (of prime importance) · fr par-dessus tout (of prime importance) · eo antaŭ ĉio (of prime importance) · sh pre svega (of prime importance) · it anzitutto (of prime importance) · nn framfor alt (of prime importance) · fr surtout (of prime importance) · ru осо́бенно (of prime importance) · it soprattutto (of prime importance) · sh пре свeгa (of prime importance) · pl przede wszystkim (of prime importance) · nb fremfor alt (of prime importance) · hu elsősorban (of prime importance) · hu mindenekelőtt (of prime importance) · nb framfor alt (of prime importance) · de vor allem (of prime importance) · ca sobretot (of prime importance) · he קודם כל (of prime importance) · es por encima de todo (of prime importance) · th เหนือสิ่งอื่นใด (of prime importance) · fi ennen kaikkea (of prime importance) · ia super toto (of prime importance) · bg пре́ди вси́чко (of prime importance) · nl vooral (of prime importance) · nn først og fremst (of prime importance) · de hauptsächlich (of prime importance) · nl voornamelijk (of prime importance) · ja 何よりも (of prime importance) · pt sobretudo (of prime importance) · th สิ่งสำคัญที่สุด (of prime importance) · es sobre todo (of prime importance) · ru пре́жде всего́ (of prime importance) · uk передусі́м (of prime importance) · eo precipe (of prime importance) · uk передовсі́м (of prime importance) · cs především (of prime importance) · el προπαντός (of prime importance)