I. -mənənt adjective
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin dominant-, dominans, present participle of dominari to rule, govern — more at dominate
1.
a. : commanding, controlling, or having supremacy or ascendancy over all others by reason of superior strength or power
the emperors were the dominant members of the papal-imperial partnership which claimed universal rule over all Christendom — W.K.Ferguson
considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings, who had been subjugated by the dominant race — R.B.Taney
in spite however of this rapid recovery of its strength by Mercia, Northumberland remained the dominant state in Britain — J.R.Green
during the latter part of this period Islam was dominant over the greater part of India — Seymour Vesey-Fitzgerald
b. astrology : exercising chief influence
having Saturn dominant in his horoscope
2.
a. : superior to all others in guiding and directive influence : most determinative
an archaistic movement running counter to the dominant historical movement — Bernard Smith
I will not say that money has ceased to be the dominant force in American life — Max Lerner
this society has been the dominant influence in the city's musical life
b. : having authority or prestige or compelling character such as to subordinate others
during the middle ages, for example, the feudal family was dominant over business and frequently ignored government — Herbert Agar
a dominant individuality refuses to be subdued to what it works in — J.L.Lowes
he occupied a dominant position in the Republican party counsels — H.W.H.Knott
3.
a. : overlooking and commanding from a superior elevation
the dome of the state capitol dominant on the skyline
the dominant hill
b. of a forest tree : sufficiently taller than surrounding trees as to have the crown exposed to sunlight from the sides as well as above
4. : prevailing over all others in number, frequency, or distribution or in productivity or fecundity : predominant , preponderant , chief
the dominant industry
the four principal eras of geological time may be identified by the names given to the dominant form of animal life in each — R.W.Murray
cotton and corn are the dominant crops in the section
5.
a. : prevailing over all others in extent and firmness of acceptance
why a complex of beliefs is dominant at one time and subordinate at another — Irving Howe
prolonged economic depression will invariably be accompanied by a loss of confidence in the dominant system — L.S.Feuer
: surpassing or overshadowing others in prominence
melancholy was the dominant note of his temperament — James Joyce
the dominant hue of the glass should be sage green — H.G.Armstrong
b. : holding the foremost position or rank or the preeminence in fulfilling a function or role
and certainly the least debatable fact in terms of American myth is that Abraham Lincoln became our dominant folk hero — E.H.Eby
the dominant theme in the first book is the splendor of life — E.K.Brown
6. : having a right of servitude or easement attached or enjoying such a right
a dominant estate
a dominant owner
7. : relating to the dominant of the musical scale
8. : of or relating to an ecological dominant : exerting ecological dominance
9. of paired bodily structures : being the one that is more effective or predominant in action
dominant eye
dominant hand
dominant hemisphere
10. of an allele : predominating over a contrasting allele in its manifestation — opposed to recessive
tallness is dominant , dwarfness recessive
many apparently dominant characters are actually examples of multifactorial determination
— compare mendel's law
11. : growing more vigorously than other parts of the same embryo and exerting a controlling influence on adjacent tissues
Synonyms:
predominant , paramount , preponderant , preponderating , sovereign : dominant connotes swaying, ruling, or commanding
a dominant economic group which calls itself an aristocracy — V.L.Parrington
the dominant tendency of thought in the nineteenth century as expressed by Darwin — H.J.Mackinder
the emigration to America had fortunately taken place in a way which made the English language and English institutions everywhere dominant — Allan Nevins & H.S.Commager
predominant stresses commanding influence and occasionally may suggest recent ascendancy
the Catholic Church must prosper by the French energy and with the French Crown at least strong and independent; better yet, predominant — Hilaire Belloc
the emotional elements (and they were the predominant and overwhelming) of the Christian vita contemplativa — H.O.Taylor
paramount indicates supremacy in power, rank, or importance
Napoleon was master of the whole continent …. In the Europe of 1808 every State had been brought into a defined relation to the paramount power, by annexation, by vassalage, or by alliance on terms of submission — G.M.Trevelyan
certainly all those who have framed written constitutions contemplate them as forming the fundamental and paramount law of the nation — John Marshall
as the paramount question in the life of a bird is the question of food — John Burroughs
preponderant and preponderating describe influence or power that outweighs everything else
some contact of some human individuals must necessarily happen if anything cultural is to spread. But the contact need by no means be the migration of whole populations; and the evidence is preponderant that mostly it is not — A.L.Kroeber
through its banking and financial affiliations it also exercises a preponderating control over the money and credit of the country — Current History
Every other thing is clearly subordinate or inferior to that which is sovereign
forced to defend their contention that Parliament, although sovereign in the empire, did not have control over the internal affairs of the colonies — S.E.Morison & H.S.Commager
the older superstition of medieval medicine that bloodletting is the only and the sovereign remedy for all bodily ills — M.R.Cohen
II. noun
( -s )
1. : something that is dominant
elimination of undesirable dominants in color films
the deeper-lying psychic elements are the least readily brought into consciousness, while they are the constant unrealized dominants of the mind — A.G.Tansley
: one that is dominant
to the urban ecologist the central business district is considered a dominant , maintaining the control of certain environmental characteristics — Social Forces
among the more traditional painters Dufy on the one hand and Van Gogh on the other seem to be the dominants — R.M.Coates
2.
a. : the principal reciting note in the ecclesiastical modes usually a fifth above the final in the authentic modes and a third above in the plagal
b. : the fifth note of the scale
G is the dominant of the key of C
3. biology
a. : a dominant character or factor
b. : an organism possessing one or more dominant characters
4.
a. : any of one or more kinds of organism (as a species or variety) in an ecological association that by reason of size, number, or habits exerts a controlling influence on the environment and thereby largely determines what other kinds of organisms share in the association
b. : any of one or more kinds of organism that constitutes the bulk or most conspicuous element of an ecological community
5. : a dominant forest tree