foremost
\ FAWR-mohst, -muhst, FOHR- \,
adjective, adverb;
1.first in place, order, rank, etc.: the foremost surgeons .
Quotes:
Although Higgins has never been to Syria, and until recently had no connection to the country, he has become perhaps the foremost expert on the munitions used in the war.
-- Patrick Radden Keefe, "Rocket Man," The New Yorker , Nov. 25, 2013
It also makes a distinction, within the domain of orthodoxy, between those who press eagerly forward, the foremost , and those who observe a certain moderation in their worship...
-- Martin Lings, What is Sufism? , 1975
Origin:
Foremost has been in English since before 1000. It replaced the Old English word formest , which is related to the word first.
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