Paramountcy

Meaning

Supreme authority or overriding power exercised by one entity over others, especially the British Crown's suzerainty over princely states

Origin / Etymology

Old French paramont (above) from Latin per ad montem (to the hill)

Synonyms

Supremacy Suzerainty Pre-eminence

Antonyms

Subordination Inferiority Subjection

Example Sentence

"Critics argued that reviving separate electorates would revive a colonial-era logic of paramountcy that fragmented the Indian electorate along communal lines."

🎯 UPSC Usage

Use in GS1 Modern History and GS2 Polity answers on integration of princely states, lapse of paramountcy in 1947, and Sardar Patel's role in nation-building.

Relevant Subjects