What is the difference between eminence and preeminence

Eminence is often used in reference to scholars who are viewed as experts in their field, with preeminence being the level of the most distinguished or respected authorities or authority. Preeminence is sometimes spelled with a hyphen pre-eminence , perhaps to make it easier to read. The first records of the word preeminence come from around People who have achieved preeminence in their field come before all others in their expertise or authority on a topic.

This is typically due to having accomplished many things and having earned the respect of their colleagues or the public during a lengthy career. Describing someone as preeminent usually means they are the top expert or one of only a few people at the top of the field. What are some other forms related to preeminence? What are some words that share a root or word element with preeminence? Preeminence is typically used in the context of people who are at the very top of their field or things that dominate in some area.

Sign up Sign in. English US. Simplified Chinese China. Question about English US. What is the difference between eminent and preeminent? Feel free to just provide example sentences. Judging from their entries in Miriam-Webster, the meanings of eminent and preeminent are similar: eminent : exhibiting eminence especially in standing above others in some quality or position standing out so as to be readily perceived or noted jutting out preeminent : having paramount rank, dignity, or importance So when would I use which?

Improve this question. Community Bot 1. Florian Brucker Florian Brucker 2 2 gold badges 7 7 silver badges 11 11 bronze badges. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. According to Noddy , Eminent v preeminent Q: What's the difference between "eminent" and "preeminent " in usage?

As adjectives the difference between preeminent and eminent is that preeminent is exceeding others in quality or rank; of outstanding excellence, extremely notable or important while eminent is archaic high, lofty; towering; prominent Examples of preeminent in a sentence can be found at Sentence Your Dictionary.

Improve this answer. The blogger was quoting from Yahoo-Answers, the correct attribution. I haven't so far found WikiDiff to be a reliable source, either.

Whenever I've consulted it, it has read more like a bot that simply paraphrases the question. What's the difference between eminence and preeminence?

Eminence Definition: n. That which is eminent or lofty; a high ground or place; a height.