核心畫面

You can hold 'premier' as the one standing at the very front of the line — number one, ahead of all the rest. That single idea of 'first, ahead of everyone' runs through both the adjective (top of its kind) and the noun (the person at the head of a government).

可以想成:排在最前面的那一個——第一名,走在所有人前頭。這個「排第一、走在最前」的畫面,同時撐起了形容詞(同類裡最頂更多收起可以想成:排在最前面的那一個——第一名,走在所有人前頭。這個「排第一、走在最前」的畫面,同時撐起了形容詞(同類裡最頂尖)和名詞(政府的頭號人物)兩種用法。

From the word’s history

From French premier 'first, chief', from Latin primarius 'of the first rank', from primus 'first'. The word literally means 'the first one'.

源自法文 premier(第一、首要),再往上是拉丁文 primarius(第一等的)、primus(第一)。這個字骨子裡就是「排第一的那個」。

etymonline.com/word/premier (French premier, from Latin primarius, from primus 'first')

Two branches

最頂級的(形容詞)

直接就是核心的「第一」當形容詞用:在同類裡排最前、最好的。

premier, top (adjective) · adjective · B2

Best, first, or most important of its kind.

首屈一指的 / 最頂級的

政府首腦(名詞)

把「排第一的人」具體化成一個職位:一國政府裡帶頭的那位。既然是政府裡的第一人,自然就叫 premier。

premier (political leader) · noun · B2

The leader of a government; another word for prime minister, used in news.

總理 / 首相

原始詞典資料9 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

premieradj/ˈpɹɛm.iː.ə/

  • 1

    Foremost; first or highest in quality or degree.

    • 2004, Philip Moore, Scouting an Anthropology of Sport, Anthropologica, Volume 46, Number 1, Canadian Anthropology Society, page 40, This failure, for a team associated with one of the premier Australian Rules Football teams with the longest of traditions, is truly enormous.
    • 2011, Kate Askew, Dot. Bomb Australia, Read How You Want, page 70, If they′d followed the advice they had received more carefully, they would have paired up with John Fairfax Holdings, later Fairfax Media, Australia′s premier independent media company.
  • 2

    governmentheraldryhobbiesMost ancient; first to hold a specified status.

    • PREMIER, a. This French word, which signifies first, is used by English Heralds to signify the most ancient Peer of any Degree by Creation; as Premier Baron, &c.
    • […]dau. of Lord Forbes, Premier Baron of Scotland (the Cumine family were of very ancient date[…])

premiernoun/ˈpɹɛm.iː.ə/

  • 1

    governmentpoliticsThe head of government in parliament and leader of the cabinet.

    • 1871 July 29, “Our Tyrant”, The Spectator, Volume 303, Issues 9308-9315, page 910, Mr. Gladstone had literally no option. Not to coerce the Lords was to coerce the Commons to continue purchase in spite of their repeated votes for its abolition, and this the Premier had as little the power as the will to do.
  • 2

    governmentpoliticsThe head of government in parliament and leader of the cabinet.

    • More surprising than the company′s activities and interests were those of the premier of Ontario, Mitchell Hepburn.
    • The major concern of most of the premiers who attended the 1887 conference was, as Macdonald well understood, to put pressure upoon Ottawa to amend the B.N.A. Act to increase the subsidies paid to the provinces by tying them to current population levels rather than those of 1860.
  • 3

    governmentpoliticsThe government leader in a legislative congress or leader of a government-level administrative body; the head of government.

    • 1983, Guo Zhou, China & the World, Volume 4, Beijing Review, page 13, This shows that our policy of strengthening friendly ties with Africa as developed by Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai is a correct one and that it has won popular support in Africa.
    • Actual decision-making power in China resides in the state′s executive organs and in the CCP. At the national level the top government executive organ is the State Council, which is led by the premier.
  • 4

    slangnauticaltransportThe first lieutenant or other second-in-command officer of a ship.

  • 5

    The champion team of a particular season (especially as used in Australian rules football).

premierverb/ˈpɹɛm.iː.ə/

  • 1

    To perform, display or exhibit for the first time.

    • The composer invited all his friends when they premiered the movie he orchestrated, we got to see it before anyone but the crew.
    • Beethoven at first promised Schuppanzigh the right to premier Opus 127, but Linke, cellist in Schuppanzigh′s Quartet, had also received Beethoven′s permission to premier the work at a special benefit concert for himself.
  • 2

    To govern in the role of premier.

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。