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PlainSpell

paramount

par·a·mount/ˈpæɹəˌmaʊnt/adjective, noun

paramount is spelled P-A-R-A-M-O-U-N-T: 9 letters and 3 syllables (par·a·mount). It appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, paramount means “Highest, supreme; also, chief, leading, pre-eminent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in paramount?

Letters9: P-A-R-A-M-O-U-N-T
Syllables3: par·a·mount
In writing5.4 times per million words; the 10,680th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is paramount?

Paramount appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce paramount?

  • UK /ˈpæɹəmaʊnt/
  • US /ˈpæɹəˌmaʊnt/
  • /ˈpɛɹəˌmaʊnt/

Paramount has 3 syllables, split par·a·mount in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-paramount.wav, En-us-paramount.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of paramount

  • paramounts plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does paramount mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Highest, supreme; also, chief, leading, pre-eminent.

  2. 2

    Of the highest importance.

    Getting those credit cards paid off is paramount.

  3. 3

    obsoleteOf a law, right, etc.: having precedence over or superior to another.

noun

  1. 1

    A chief or superior; (specifically, chiefly South Africa) an African chief having the highest status in a region; a paramount chief.

  2. 2

    obsoleteA supreme ruler; an overlord; (specifically, historical) in the feudal system, a landowner who did not derive ownership of the land from anyone else, and who was able to grant fees to others; a lord paramount.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Paramount in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsuprême (highest, supreme – see also supreme), capital, primordial (of the highest importance)
Germanhervorragend, höchst, überragend, vorrangig (highest, supreme – see also supreme)
Portuguesevital, supremo, sumo (highest, supreme – see also supreme), primordial (of the highest importance), suserano (African chief having the highest status in a…)
Spanishsupremo, sumo (highest, supreme – see also supreme), primordial, prioritario (of the highest importance)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does paramount come from?

From Anglo-Norman paramont /paramount (“paramount, pre-eminent; above”), from Old French par /per (“by”) + amont /amunt (“upward”). Par is derived from Latin per (“by means of, through”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through; to carry forth, fare”); amont and amunt are from Latin ad montem (“to the mountain; upward”), from ad (“up to”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“at; to”)) + montem (the accusative singular of mōns (“mount, mountain”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stand out, tower”)).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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