PREEMINENCE

pre-em'-i-nens: Superiority, especially in noble or excellent qualities. The word stands for: (1) mothar, "what is over and above," "excellence"; "Man hath no preeminence above the beasts" (Ecclesiastes 3:19); (2) proteuo, "to be first"; "That in all things he (= Christ) might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18); (3) ho philoproteuon, is translated "who loveth to have the preeminence," literally "who loveth to be first" (of Diotrephes, 3 John 1:9).

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.