Standard Lemma guide

prominence

noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈpɹɒ.mɪ.nəns/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈpɹɑ.mɪ.nəns/
  • CMU ARPABET: P R AA1 M AH0 N AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state of being prominent: widely known or eminent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Relative importance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A bulge: something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from a form.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Autonomous height; relative height or prime factor; a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: geography, natural-sciences, topography

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A gaseous projection, often loop-shaped, springing from the surface of the Sun or a star.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

relative importance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: importance

7

noun

Meaning 7

something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the gun in his pocket made an obvious bulge
  • the hump of a camel
  • he stood on the rocky prominence
  • the occipital protuberance was well developed
  • the bony excrescence between its horns

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bulge, bump, hump, swelling, gibbosity, gibbousness, jut, protuberance, protrusion, extrusion, excrescence

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: projection

Narrower terms: frontal eminence, occipital protuberance, belly, caput, mogul, nub, nubble, snag, wart

8

noun

Meaning 8

the state of being prominent: widely known or eminent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: obscurity

Broader terms: standing

Narrower terms: limelight, spotlight, glare, public eye, salience, saliency, strikingness

History

Etymology

From obsolete French prominence (compare proéminence), from Latin prominentia.

Across languages

Translations

51 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: известност (izvestnost) — being prominent
  • Bulgarian: забележителност (zabeležitelnost) — being prominent
  • Catalan: prominència — being prominent
  • Esperanto: eminenteco — being prominent
  • Finnish: hallitsevuus — being prominent
  • French: proéminence — being prominent
  • Greek: διάκριση (diákrisi) — being prominent
  • Ancient Greek: ἐξοχή (exokhḗ) — being prominent
  • Hindi: प्रमुखता (pramukhtā) — being prominent
  • Irish: ardréim — being prominent
  • Italian: prominenza — being prominent
  • Italian: sporgenza — being prominent
  • Korean: 중요성 (jung'yoseong) — being prominent
  • Korean: 두드러짐 (dudeureojim) — being prominent
  • Macedonian: иста́кнатост (istáknatost) — being prominent
  • Macedonian: забележи́телност (zabeležítelnost) — being prominent
  • Malayalam: പ്രാമുഖ്യം (prāmukhyaṁ) — being prominent
  • Norwegian: prominens — being prominent
  • Norwegian Bokmål: framstående — being prominent
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: framståande — being prominent
  • Romanian: proeminență — being prominent
  • Russian: призна́ние (priznánije) — being prominent
  • Russian: изве́стность (izvéstnostʹ) — being prominent
  • Spanish: prominencia — being prominent
  • Finnish: merkittävyys — relative importance
  • Bulgarian: издатина (izdatina) — bulge
  • Bulgarian: изпъкналост (izpǎknalost) — bulge
  • Finnish: kohouma — bulge
  • Finnish: pullistuma — bulge
  • French: protubérance — bulge
  • German: Protuberanz — bulge
  • Greek: προεξοχή (proexochí) — bulge
  • Irish: starr — bulge
  • Italian: protuberanza — bulge
  • Macedonian: испа́кнатост (ispáknatost) — bulge
  • Russian: вы́пуклость (výpuklostʹ) — bulge
  • Russian: вы́ступ (výstup) — bulge
  • Spanish: protuberancia — bulge
  • Spanish: prominencia — bulge
  • Ottoman Turkish: تومسك (tümsek) — bulge
  • Finnish: suhteellinen korkeus — relative height
  • Norwegian: primærfaktor — relative height
  • Polish: wzniesienie — relative height
  • Russian: относительная высота́ (otnositelʹnaja vysotá) — relative height
  • Spanish: prominencia — relative height
  • Chinese Mandarin: 日珥 (rì'ěr) — gaseous projection of the Sun
  • French: protubérance — gaseous projection of the Sun
  • German: Protuberanz — gaseous projection of the Sun
  • Japanese: プロミネンス — gaseous projection of the Sun
  • Manchu: ᡧᡠᠨ ᡧᠠᠩᡴᠠ (šun šangka) — gaseous projection of the Sun
  • Spanish: protuberancia — gaseous projection of the Sun
Real reading context

prominence in complete knowledge articles