Vocabulary Basics for Business [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Types of Importance

Words that are related to importance can be confusing. One reason is that we have so many of them; another is that they sometimes differ from one another only slightly, and meanings overlap. Individual words related to the idea of importance can convey, or give, one of the following meanings:

serious

basic, core, or fundamental

necessary, required

number one, or nearly so; first and foremost, primary

Remember that the context of the word tells its meaning, and the same word can sometimes have more than one meaning depending on its use.

Five useful words related to importance but that differ according to their use are eminent, essential, momentous, paramount, and salient. We'll look at each of these in turn.

Eminent

What meaning does eminent have in the following sentence? Does it indicate "necessary" or "outstanding"?

Margaret Mead is eminent in the field of anthropology.

Eminent means "having high standing," or "of high merit," or "distinguished." The term is often used with regard to scholars or individuals who have made significant contributions to science or the arts. Therefore, in this example eminent means "outstanding."

Essential

What meaning does essential have in the following sentence? Does it indicate "outstanding" or "necessary"?

Teamwork was essential to the success of the project.

Essential is related to the word essence and means "basic to the nature of something." In this case, the nature of the project required teamwork, so cooperation was necessary.

Momentous

What meaning does momentous have in the following sentence? Does it mean "serious" or "necessary"?

Expanding the firm was a momentous decision for the directors.

While the decision may well have been a necessary one, momentous means "serious," "weighty," or "major." Momentous is usually used to describe major decisions, issues, or events.

Paramount

What meaning does paramount have in the following sentence? Does it mean "serious" or "primary"?

Paramount among the executive's concerns was that the company might lose money this year.

Paramount indicates "first and foremost" or "primary." In this example, the concern about losing money was the primary concern. Losing money is also very serious, but we know that from our common sense, not from the word paramount.

Salient

What meaning does salient have in the following sentence? Does it mean "necessary" or "obvious"?

The most salient point of the report was that the firm should employ ten more sales representatives.

Salient means "obvious" or "standing out." To make its point salient, the report might have repeated the point, provided detail about it, presented it in larger print, or otherwise emphasized the need for added representatives. We do not know if the point was a foundation for the report, just that it was obvious. Salient does not usually refer to people; we say salient feature, point, response, issue, or observation, but not salient person, employee, or student.