Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Premier in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels premier as adjective. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913adjective
Premier

[F. premier, fr. L. primarius of the first rank, principal, fr. primus the first. See Primary, Prime, a.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordpremier
Part of speechadjective
Historical etymology[F. premier, fr. L. primarius of the first rank, principal, fr. primus the first. See Primary, Prime, a.]
Selected historical definitionFirst; chief; principal; as, the premier place; premier minister.
Signed record IDwebster1913-premier-adjective-e8c80e13afa3
Source locatorCIDE.P, paragraph 13454; Gutenberg eBook 666
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 666Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "premier" is labeled adjective. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F. premier, fr. L. primarius of the first rank, principal, fr. primus the first. See Primary, Prime, a.]" The selected historical definition says: "First; chief; principal; as, the premier place; premier minister."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact record

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