Entry Word: preeminence

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 exceptionally high quality <the restaurant is known for the preeminence of its seafood dishes> — see excellence 1
2 controlling power or influence over others <some historians contended that no nation had attained such undisputed preeminence since the glory days of the Roman Empire> — see supremacy 1
3 the fact or state of being above others in rank or importance <his preeminence in the field of medicine> — see eminence 1