I. -nənt 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
• dom·i·nant·ly 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