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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary dom·i·nant
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
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 English Etymology dominant 1530s, from Fr. dominant (13c.), from L. dominantem, prp. of dominari (see domination). Music sense is from 1819. The noun is first recorded 1819, earliest in the musical sense. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 dominant dom·in·ant / 5dCminEnt; NAmE 5dB:m- / adjective1. more important, powerful or noticeable than other things 首要的；占支配地位的；占优势的；显着的: The firm has achieved a dominant position in the world market. 这家公司在国际市场上占有举足轻重的地位。 The dominant feature of the room was the large fireplace. 这间屋子要数那个大壁炉最显眼了。 2. (biology 生) a dominant gene causes a person to have a particular physical characteristic, for example brown eyes, even if only one of their parents has passed on this gene (基因)显性的,优势的 ⇨ compare recessive • dom·in·ance / 5dCminEns; NAmE 5dB:- / noun [U] : to achieve / assert dominance over sb 取得对某人的支配地位；主张对某人实行控制 political / economic dominance 政治/经济上的优势 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English dominant adj. VERBS be, seem | become | remain ADV. extremely, very | completely, overwhelmingly, totally | increasingly | fairly, relatively | economically, politically, socially the economically dominant class OLT dominant adj. ⇨ powerful Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged dom·i·nant 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 dominanthistorical 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 |
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