Premiers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The leaders of a government or significant office within a political framework
2. the first performances or showings of a production, often signifying a notable event
3. those who are first in rank or importance within specific contexts or groups

Etymology: "Premiers" is the plural of "premier" as a noun, meaning the heads of regional or national governments. Its root is the Latin "prīmārius", meaning "of the first rank" or "chief", which came into Middle French as "premier" and was taken into English from there. The word's sense of "first" in rank or order is the same idea that gives English its sibling "primary", the two words being doublets that split apart when one entered through learned Latin and the other through French. The English noun is a plural form of "premier" used for those who hold the top office in a government, a sense that rests on the adjective's older meaning of first in rank. Because the plural simply pluralizes that title, the chain of meaning runs straight from "chief" to the heads of a cabinet.

Synonyms: leaders, chiefs, heads, ministers, chief executives