dominant

I. adjective Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin dominant-, dominans, present participle of dominari Date: circa 1532 1. a. commanding, controlling, or prevailing over all others <

the dominant culture

> b. very important, powerful, or successful <

a dominant theme

> <

a dominant industry

> 2. overlooking and commanding from a superior position <

a dominant hill

> 3. of, relating to, or exerting ecological or genetic dominance 4. being the one of a pair of bodily structures that is the more effective or predominant in action <

dominant eye

> • dominantly adverb Synonyms: dominant, predominant, paramount, preponderant mean superior to all others in influence or importance. dominant applies to something that is uppermost because ruling or controlling <

a dominant social class

>. predominant applies to something that exerts, often temporarily, the most marked influence <

a predominant emotion

>. paramount implies supremacy in importance, rank, or jurisdiction <

unemployment was the paramount issue in the campaign

>. preponderant applies to an element or factor that outweighs all others in influence or effect <

preponderant evidence in her favor

>. II. noun Date: 1819 1. the fifth tone of a major or minor scale 2. a. a dominant genetic character or factor b. any of one or more kinds of organism (as a species) in an ecological community that exerts a controlling influence on the environment and thereby largely determines what other kinds of organisms are present c. a dominant individual in a social hierarchy