different between matchless vs preeminent

English

Etymology 1

From match +? -less, modelled after or partly continuing Middle English makeless (“having no peer or equal, matchless”), equivalent to make +? -less. Compare Swedish makalös (“incomparable, matchless”), Danish mageløs (“matchless”).

Adjective

matchless (comparative more matchless, superlative most matchless)

1. Having no match; without equal.
   • 1819, Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, ch. 8:

     [T]he Prince was to declare the victor in the first day's tourney, who should receive as prize a warhorse of exquisite beauty and matchless strength.

   • 2002, Daniel Okrent, "Books: A Prince of a Pitcher" (Review of: Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy), Time, 30 Sept.:

     It was not his matchless talent that exalted Koufax beyond his greatest contemporaries so much as it was his knowledge that character was not connected to talent.

2. Having no mate.
   • 2010, Sandra Brennan, "Movies: The Flying Matchmaker (1966)," nytimes.com, 1 June (retrieved 13 Sep 2010):

     In this comedy, a matchmaker has a matchless daughter. Try as he might, he cannot seem to find anyone for her.

Synonyms

• (without equal): incomparable, nonpareil, peerless, unequaled, unmatched, unparalleled, unsurpassed
• (having no mate): single, unattached

Derived terms

• matchlessly
• matchlessness

Translations

Etymology 2

match +? -less

Adjective

matchless (not comparable)

1. Without the use of matches for ignition.

   a matchless stove

English

Alternative forms

• præeminent (18?^th century)
• pre-eminent
• preëminent

Etymology

From Middle French preeminent and its source, Latin prae?min?ns, present participle of prae?min?re (“to stand out, excel”), from prae- (“pre-”) + ?min?re.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p?i???m?n?nt/

Adjective

preeminent (not comparable)

1. Exceeding others in quality or rank; of outstanding excellence, extremely notable or important. [from 15th c.]

Derived terms

• preeminence
• preeminently

Translations

Anagrams

• repinement

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin prae?min?ns.

Adjective

preeminent (masculine and feminine plural preeminents)

1. preeminent

Derived terms

• preeminentment

Related terms

• preeminència

Further reading

• “preeminent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “preeminent” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “preeminent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “preeminent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Romanian

Etymology

From French prééminent

Adjective

preeminent m or n (feminine singular preeminent?, masculine plural preeminen?i, feminine and neuter plural preeminente)

1. preeminent

Declension