English
eminent
Eminent comes from Middle French éminent, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-‘to think, mind’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600éminent
- Englishearliest quotation 1988eminent
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-‘to think, mind’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600éminent
- Englishearliest quotation 1988eminent
Earliest quotation: 1988, William Styron, Why Primo Levi Need Not Have Died: “Why did the eminent Italian writer Primo Levi die…”
The story
Unrelated to emanate, which is instead from mānō (‘to flow’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’
music, money, amount, mind, mouth, museum, monster, auto, comment, mental, remain, monitor, mountain, mention, mount, permanent, monk, demonstration, monetary, maya, min, monastery, muse, mosaic, summon, monument, mas, mentor, monte, mania, amnesty, muster, monstrous, mandarin, menace, manic, mantra, dementia, mont, amnesia, 127 more
Today it means
adj Noteworthy, remarkable, great.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *men- / eminent